


Who Gave You Eyes Like That (Said You Could Keep Them)

by Riley_Scott



Series: I'm Running Outta Time (going outta my mind) [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Humor, Maybe something, Oliver is a fuckboy, not really sure what this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-05
Updated: 2015-10-06
Packaged: 2018-04-02 23:46:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 33,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4078507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Riley_Scott/pseuds/Riley_Scott
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Updated Summary: Felicity has known Oliver Queen almost her whole life, and she has always known that he wants to sleep with her. But to her he is just some over privileged fuckboy and she doesn't have time for that. It's too bad that Oliver doesn't realize that getting her just isn't as easy as all the women before her. </p><p>No longer a one shot, now a multi-chapter fic. Still don't know how long this will go on for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Felicity Doesn't Date F-boys

**Author's Note:**

> Not really sure what I'm doing with this one. All I know is that I wanted to explore this idea of Felicity seeing Oliver as nothing more than a fuckboy. For now this is a one-shot, but I may create a world around this sometime in the future.

Felicity Smoak was on her third, wait, no fourth glass of Tuscan Red, sitting with one of her closest friends when the conversation took a turn for the usual. Her and Sin had only known each other for a few short months, meeting after Felicity had hired the younger girl as an intern for her new tech start-up, 'Smoak Signals', and the two ladies had become fast friends. But, like most of the friends that Felicity had made over the last few years, Sin had finally decided to ask the big question.

“So, how long have you and Queen been bumping uglies?”

Felicity wasn't really surprised, and the flush in her cheeks really was a result of the wine. Everyone in her life assumed at some point that her and Oliver Queen were sleeping together. She had dealt with this question more times than she could remember and so she was an expert at answering it by now. 

“Oliver and I aren't sleeping together. In fact, I don't even really know him all that well.” She answered with a practiced causality. The look on Sin's face showed that she didn't really buy it. 

But it was true. She had known Oliver Queen since she was a freshman and he was repeating his Junior year. She had just moved to Starling City and shortly after starting at Starling Prep, Felicity had been partnered with Oliver in chemistry. Even though he was older than her, and supposedly two grades ahead, he was a terrible student and he a Felicity shared the majority of their classes. But despite having known him all that time, she really didn't know him that well. He was a pretty shallow guy, and as far as she could tell, there wasn't really a whole lot to know.

“Well, okay so you're not hittin' that, but you don't think that he's into you. Seriously? I mean you gotta know that he has some serious feelings for you?” Sin asked her, signaling the bartender to bring her another beer.

Felicity laughed, shaking her head with a smile. 

“Oliver Queen? Feelings, for me? You're cute. I have known Oliver Queen for over a decade and I can assure you that he cares about 3 things.” Felicity held up her hand, ticking off her list with her fingers. “His Sister, His Dick, and His Bike. And not necessarily in that order.” She huffed out with a chuckle, taking another sip of wine. 

Sin shook her head. 

“Oh come on, blondie, don't be coy. He is always making the googly eyes at you.” She said, wagging her fingers by her face with an eye roll. 

Felicity couldn't really fault the logic. She knew that Oliver had a thing for her. Always had. Well, almost always. 

Oliver hadn't really taken much interest in her at first. She was nerdy and quiet, and pretty much kept to herself, not his type at all. 

But then Felicity had been hired by the Queen family to help tutor his little sister, Thea, and Oliver had started to look at her different. Felicity just always assumed it was because she spent three nights a week in a room right down the hall from his bedroom, and if Oliver was anything, it was lazy. 

That was when he had started making passes at her. It was really cheesy winks and pickup lines at first, and then full blown grand gestures. But by that point, Felicity had been in Starling long enough to know all about Oliver Queen. And what she had discovered was that he was a card carrying Fuckboy. And while she wasn't the most versed in the world, she was experienced enough to know that Fuckboy's were not something that she needed in her life. 

“Oh, I don't doubt that Oliver wants to sleep with me. He's being trying to get me into bed since I was 16. He's not subtle. But he also isn't thinking about anything beyond sex.” She answered her friend with her own eye roll. 

“He's been after you for 10 years, and you were never tempted? Not even a little?” Sin asked, her brow arched in disbelief. 

Felicity shrugged and titled her head. “Oh, don't get me wrong, he's cute. Or I mean, he was cute, in high school. Cute doesn't really cover what he is now, with those muscles and the...” She trailed off with a wistful smile and the shook her head “anyway, yes, he's attractive but I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole.”

“Oh, and why not?” The younger girl asked, clearly amused.

“Do you remember that commercial,” She started, sitting her glass down and leaning towards Sin “the one they used to play in sex-ed back in junior high? The one that said when you sleep with someone that you don't just sleep with them, but with everyone they've slept with? Yeah-no.” She said with a shudder “That skeeves me out, because I've seen some of the winners that have fallen prey to his 'charms'.”

“Hey, he dated Laurel, and Sarah too. And they are two of your best friends.” Sin asserted, waving her beer around to emphasize her point. 

Felicity nodded in agreement. “Oh, I realize that, and yes Laurel is like the older sister that I never wanted and I couldn't live without Sarah. But there was also Helena, Isabel, and Sandra and that's just in the last couple of years. You don't even wanna know about High school and the disaster that was his frat boy years.”

At that Sin nodded and frowned in understanding but then shrugged. “So what, you are totally fine having this guy friend that not so secretly lusts after you? That doesn't make you uncomfortable?” She asked, that eyebrow arched again and Felicity smiled to reassure her. 

“Oh, Oliver has never made me uncomfortable. He knows what's going too far. I think he's mostly just kidding at this point. And besides, I don't really consider us friends. I mean, yeah we see each other pretty often but that's mostly just because he and Diggle are so close, and because I'm always meeting Thea at the loft. And he is still friendly with Laurel because of Tommy. So our paths cross a lot, but we don't really hangout.” She explained away, flagging the bartender down so they could close out their tab. 

Sin just shook her head. “I think maybe you're in denial, chickie.”

Felicity smirked “And I think that you've been spending too much time with Roy. He is always seeing things that aren't there.”

Oliver Queen was a fuckboy. Plain and simple.


	2. Is Oliver a F-Boy?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We know what Felicity thinks about Oliver. What does he think about her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I gotta say that the response this story has stunned me. I know that there are some really big names in this fandom that pull huge numbers when they post a story, but I have never been one of those people and don't expect to ever be. But the response to this story was amazing and it had me smiling all day. A few people seemed interested in seeing Oliver's take on things so I figured I would provide that before delving into the next steps. Hope everyone enjoys.

Oliver Queen had been nursing the same beer for at least the last hour, his eye on the clock above the bar. I wasn't that he didn't like hanging out with Roy, he liked the kid okay. He didn't hate him nearly as much as all of his sister's other boyfriends, that was for sure. But despite the fact that it was Friday night, he had an early morning 'meeting' over a golf game (he hated golf) that he needed at least 8 hours of sleep to prepare for. It also didn't help that for the last hour Roy had been harping (hehe) on his favorite subject. 

Felicity Smoak. 

Roy, along with any of this friends that he had known for more than a few months, loved to hound him on the topic of Felicity. It wasn't new, but it was a little annoying. He had known Felicity for over 10 years and he had been in love with her for the majority of that time. She was adorable, and sexy and smart as hell. She made him laugh without even meaning to, and had the biggest heart of anyone that he had ever met. She loved all of their friends just as much, if not more than he did and treated them all like family from day one. He couldn't be in the same room with her and not light up. She made everything and everyone around her better. 

 

He knew that his feelings for Felicity were obvious. Hell, he had been pursuing her since his senior year of high-school, but she had always turned him down. He never really gave up though, and now it had become sort of a running joke among their mutual friends. Roy, being the newest to the tight knit little group and the right hand man to Thea, had made Oliver and Felicity his own little project. It would be endearing if it didn't lead to these regular awkward little get together's. 

“So, dude, what I don't get is why you haven't upped your game any?” Roy was saying, slapping Oliver on the shoulder as he leaned towards him. Oliver looked down at the hand on his shoulder with an arched brow, waiting until the younger man pulled it away.

“My game is just fine, bro” He said, his tone mocking. “Felicity knows where I stand. She knows how I feel, and if she were interested then she would say something. That's the 'game'.” He said, taking a swig of his beer, finishing it off and signaling the bartender. 

Roy was just shaking his head, a small smart-ass smirk on his face. “I don't think she does, man.” He said and Oliver turned to him, his hand halfway in his back pocket, pulling out his wallet.

“What do you mean?” He heard himself ask, and hated himself for engaging Roy in this conversation even further. 

“I mean, she doesn't know how you feel. She thinks you're full of shit.” He said with a laugh that he quickly swallowed at the glare that Oliver shot him. “No offense.” He finished, looking down at his own tab, avoiding Oliver's gaze. 

“And you know this?” Oliver asked, throwing a few bills on the bar, putting his wallet away.

“Oliver, man, everyone knows. Think about it for a second. What does Felicity even know about you? She met you in high-school, do you remember you in high-school? She sure does. She has seen you go through more girls than most guys go through boxers. And yeah, you're different now, or whatever. But she doesn't see that. When you slink up to her at our group things and whisper in her ear to run away with you? That's not you anymore. That's creeper. She doesn't know you any other way.” He said, once again slapping Oliver on the shoulder, this time with a sympathetic look. Oliver was sure that his face betrayed him, he was suddenly having flashbacks to all the times he had made a move on Felicity.

Tommy's pool party when he had ran up behind her, picked her up and held her close to his body as he dove into the pool.

The night before his senior prom when he had invited her last minute, even though he had already planned on going with his girlfriend.

The night of Thea's 'sweet sixteen' slumber party when he had ran into her in the bathroom and tried to get her to come back to his room with him because he was hammered. 

He suddenly felt sick. 

All these years, all of the changes that he had made, she hadn't seen any of them. All she saw was the same asshole that had tried to get her into his bed over and over. She never noticed when he stopped trying to bed her and just started trying to know her. 

She didn't know how he felt, and it was his own damn fault. He had spent so much time proving his worth to his family and himself that it never occurred to him that she hadn't seen it.

He looked at Roy again, his head pounding and he squinted. “How do you know this?”

“Who's my girlfriend? And who's her best friend? Girls talk man, and even though Felicity thinks you're just some fuckboy is doesn't mean that she doesn't talk about you to her friends.” He answered, standing from the stool and pulling up his jacket. 

Oliver nodded, lost in thought and then looked at Roy with a frown. “What is a fuckboy?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure you know this, but reviews and kudos literally feed my soul.


	3. Step One: The Backstory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We know how Felicity feels. We know how Oliver feels. But how did these two crazy kids get to this point?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really have no words to describe how it felt to wake up to my inbox this morning. You are all amazing and I love the feedback I'm getting. Hopefully the interest level maintains, because I've got a lot more for this version of Oliver and Felicity.

Step One: The Backstory

Felicity Meghan Smoak grew up in Vegas, a daughter to a homemaker and a computer geek. She had an awesome little family and a great life. But, when she was 13, things changed. Her Dad left one day, without warning, abandoning his wife, Donna and his teenaged daughter. Donna had never really held a job, because she had married Felicity's Dad right after high school. So the only job she could find was as a waitress in a casino. A job that not only left Felicity at home alone most of the time, but also barely paid their bills. 

So when an old friend of Donna's opened a restaurant in Starling City, and offered her a management position she jumped at the chance. Moving to Starling was a huge change for them, it was over 1,000 miles from the only home either of them had ever known, but Donna decided that was a more suitable life for a single Mom and her daughter. 

So when Felicity was 14 her Mom had packed up everything and moved the two of them to a new city. She wasn't overly thrilled with it at first, it didn't seem that different than Vegas. But then she was offered the chance to attend Starling Prep, one of the most elite high schools on the West Coast. In fact, she tested so well she was offered a full ride. 

It was on her first day that she met Oliver Queen, resident bad boy. Every school, every town, had one. But Oliver wasn't just some townie, no he was infamous. His parents owned and operated the largest company in town, the company that had put Starling on the map. He was like an out of control royal. 

Felicity was introduced to him the first day of the semester, she was elected to be his lab partner, because much to her annoyance, she was in the same classes as the Junior's. The work was more challenging, yes, but so were her classmates. Felicity was 15 years old and had little interest in who was throwing the best kegger that weekend and who had finally gotten a crème for that nasty rash. And that was all most of her fellow students seemed to care about. 

Oliver, she knew was a second year Junior, and has just turned 18. He pretty much ignored her the first few months. She was too young for him, too nerdy and way too smart. He copied her answers onto his work sheets, texted on his phone while she did the lab work and was always waiting by the door by the time the bell rang. Felicity was totally fine with that arrangement. She had even less interest in Oliver Queen than he had in her. 

But then, the summer between her Freshman and Sophomore year, things changed. She had just turned 16 and was looking for a part time job. She was surprised when she had been called to the Queen mansion on weekend, to interview with Moria Queen, for a tutoring job. She had assumed that she was summoned there for Oliver, and was all prepared to turn the obscene amount of money down. But when she arrived she was introduced to Thea Queen, Oliver's younger sister. She was a tiny thing, all knees and elbows, with long wavy brown hair. She had just turned 14 and was about to apply for Starling Prep. Apparently the Queens has already donated two libraries to the school just to keep Oliver enrolled, and didn't have any pull left when it come to their youngest. So Thea needed to score off the charts for the entrance exam. 

Felicity had taken one look at Thea and was a goner. 

They quickly became friends after that, despite the age difference. Felicity found Thea to be a great student, very eager to please and even more eager to learn. Even after Thea had aced the exam and scored her entrance to Starling prep they remained close. They spent nearly every weekend together, and hung out on between classes. That gave lots of chances for Felicity to run into Oliver. The Queen children had an entire wing of the house to themselves, and Thea and Oliver's room was on the same hallway. 

The first time Oliver made a pass at Felicity was when she had been over for a tutoring session. She had been busy with her Mom that afternoon so she had waited and come over after dinner. Oliver apparently had just stumbled in from some pool party because when he had ran into her in the hall he was still wet, smelling of chlorine, coco butter and cheap beer. 

When he slammed into her she had fought the instinct to apologize and instead she glared at him and told him to watch where he was going. He apparently thought that was a come on, because next thing she knew he was trying to lean into her, to whisper in her ear. 

She had worried for a second that he didn't recognize her, that he was so drunk that he thought she was someone else. But then she felt his hot breath on her neck and he was saying her name. Asking her if she wanted to see his room. She pushed past him with a groan, returning to his sister. 

Sadly, that was just the first of many. She had lost count long ago of all of the times that Oliver had drunkenly asked her to 'have a little fun'. 

Over the years she and Thea just grew closer, and eventually Felicity's friendship group just expanded. But because they all went to the same school and lived in the same town, a lot of her friends were also his friends.

There was Laurel and Sarah, the Lance sisters and Felicity had become friends during her internship at the police station, where their Dad was Police Chief. She had been very interested in cyber security during her Freshman year at MIT and had butter up Captain Lance her first summer back home. She had hit it off with the girls whenever they visited their Dad at work and they had become fast friends. Unfortunately they had both dated Oliver. Or, at least Laurel had dated him, Sarah had just 'slept with him casually' before she met Nyssa. But they all still remained friendly with him, especially since Laurel was now engaged to his best friend, Tommy Merlyn. Tommy was also one of Felicity's good friends, because frankly, you couldn't meet Tommy Merlyn and not love him. Even though she had seen some of his antics in high school.

Then there was John Diggle, who was pretty much Oliver's constant companion. Felicity had met John right after college, when she had worked in the Queen Consolidated IT department. The last place she had ever seen herself working was at QC. But over the years she had grown close to Moria, and after Robert died, Moria had taken over his seat on the board. And despite the fact that Oliver took over as CEO, and seemed to be doing a fine job, Moria still worried. So when she had gotten complaints about the supervisor of the IT department she had asked Felicity to be her inside man. What was supposed to be a 6 month position turned into 2 years. Because as soon as Felicity started her position she was able to confirm Moria's fears about the supervisor and after he was let go she stayed on to whip the department back into shape. During that time she was introduced to John, the head of security for QC. After Felicity received a few threats from the guy she had gotten fired, Moria had insisted that she consider John her own personal security guard, because 'she deserved the best'. The two of them quickly bonded over late night, cheap take out and John's love life. Apparently, during that time Oliver and John also became close as well, but Felicity didn't realize that until a year later when John and his 'ex-wife' had gotten remarried. Felicity was asked to be a bridesmaid and she was stunned to find that Oliver was the best man. 

The worst though, was her Mom. It had come to Felicity's attention over the last year or so that Oliver's favorite restaurant also happened to be the same one that her Mom had been managing for over a decade. Oliver was such a frequent customer that he and Donna had become friends. During her weekly lunch dates with her Mom, Felicity was subjected to an hour of “Oh, honey Oliver said the funniest thing the other day.” and “Did you ever notice that Oliver has the bluest eyes?”. Felicity was half-convinced that her Mom was in love with Oliver Queen. 

All of this resulted in Oliver Queen being a pretty big fixture in her life. They crossed paths on almost a daily basis, especially since the only office space available for her new company 'Smoak Signals' was in the building right next to QC. 

At least he had gotten classier with his come-on's in the last couple of years.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oliver Queen had always been a fuck up. 

Born and raised into Starling City royalty had really swelled his head. He grew up seeing his last name on almost every major building in town. He had everything at his disposal and no one batted an eye to give him what he wanted. 

So when he started to show an interest in girls, that had come just as easy to him as everything else. He barely even had to wink at a girl and she was in his bed. Sometimes it had almost seemed too easy. 

He was just starting his Junior year of high school for the second time when he was assigned some brainy new girl as his lab partner. He was cool with it, because he could tell by her glasses and lack of fashion sense that she was smart. So he just let her do the work while he worked on his social calendar. With her help he had passed this time and had quickly put her out of his mind. 

He didn't like her. Not at all. She was short. And blonde. He liked brunettes, they worked harder for attention. And she wore glasses, which he didn't see the point of when lasik existed. And she always wore her hair in a ponytail, like a third grader and that lipstick? Don't even get him started. Who wore bright pink lipstick all the time? That shit would get everywhere. Not worth the cleanup. 

So he forgot about her. He forgot about how her nose crinkled when a problem challenged her. He forgot about how no matter how much she chewed at her lips her lipstick stayed perfect. He didn't care about that stuff. 

But then he had come home one night, his Dad yelling at him for missing dinner so that he could get thrashed at Tommy's pool party. And he had run into her in the hall. At first he thought she was a mirage, but then he had crashed into her and she had been mean. A girl had never been mean to him before. He kind of liked it. She had pushed him away, turning down his perfectly respectful invitation and stormed back to his sisters room. 

After that he had started to look at her differently.  
Suddenly she was everywhere. She and his sister became friends and she was always at his house. Always just around. It was distracting and frustrating. He just wanted to sleep with her to get it over with. He always lost interest in a girl as soon as he slept with her, because what was the point of seeing her naked twice? But Felicity kept turning him down. She always brushed him off, like he was telling a joke that wasn't funny. 

That went on for months. He thought that maybe if he asked her on a real date then she would feel so special that she would finally give it up. But when she turned down his offer to blow off his prom date and take her instead he was baffled. So he had forced Tommy to dump his date and they had gotten smashed on the roof of the school, while he cursed her name. 

Not long after that Oliver went away to college, well, colleges. Over the next few years he saw less of Felicity and tried to put her out of his mind. He tried actually dating someone, and had been kind of successful in moving on from Felicity while he was dating Laurel. But then he got kicked out of his second school and she broke it off. 

Then he thought that maybe he was just into blondes, so he had started a thing with Sarah, Laurel's adventurous little sister. But then Sarah met Nyssa and so that ended and he still couldn't stop thinking about Felicity. 

Then his Dad had a heart attack. 

Everything changed after that. He left his third school and moved back home. He went to work at the family company, under the tutelage of Walter, his Dad's best friend and CFO. He took classes at night and online and finished his MBA in record time. He didn't really have time to pursue Felicity then. He was busy helping his Dad heal and trying to hold his family, and the company together. But he still thought about her all the time. 

Then, just as he finished his MBA and was ready to take over the company in an official capacity, Robert took out the family's yacht, looking for a relaxing week long trip. He never came back. He was declared dead a month last when the Queen's Gambit was found at the bottom of the ocean. 

The grief was too much for Oliver to handle, so he threw himself into running the company. 

But then shortly after his Father's death Felicity moved back home, finished with college. His mother asked her to come to work for the company to alleviate some concerns the board had about competence of the IT supervisor. For the first time since he had left for college, he and Felicity were in the same town, the same building on a daily basis. He saw her in the elevator a few times a week, in the lobby on occasion, but their offices were 18 floors apart so it didn't really offer that many opportunities to chat. 

But the flashes he saw of her reminded him just how much he craved her. 

It was different now. His fingers still itched to touch her, his skin still tingled when she was in the same room, but it was in a different way. He didn't just want to see her beneath him anymore. He wanted to hear her sigh his name. He wanted to see her smile at him from across the room, he wanted to be the one that made her laugh, the one that walked her to her car each night. 

He still worked on her every chance he got. He made little mentions about getting coffee, lunch, dinner, running away to an island. But she always just smiled politely and moved on, never giving him a shred of hope. But he never gave up. 

They saw each other fairly often, at least a few times a week and he was thankful that they seemed to share most of their friends. And he had to admit, the only advantage to being a grown man and living with his little sister what that Felicity came over every few days to see Thea. 

There lives already fit together so well, and Oliver held on to the possibility that one day she wouldn't want to say no.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter Step Two: The Approach


	4. Step Two: The Approach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver needs a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't judge me. I just can't stop writing this. That's okay, right?

Step Two: The Approach

After his talk with Roy, Oliver went home, his mind racing with all of the times that he had interacted with Felicity. He had been a jerk in high school. He knew, but he had grown out of that and he had just assumed that she knew that. 

But if tonight had taught him anything, it was that she didn't. She still just thought he was trying to get in her pants. She hadn't once taken him seriously and she never would unless he did something to fix this. 

He had a lot of planning to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next few weeks passed without much incident. 

Oliver and Felicity saw each other in passing, or while out with friends. The only real difference was that Oliver didn't make a move on her. No dinner invites, no jokes about finding a broom closet. He didn't even compliment her outfit. 

If she found it odd she didn't show it outwardly. 

Their friends did start to look at him oddly though. 

He was playing things very close to the vest. He never mentioned his plans to anyone, not even Thea. He knew that she had a certain influence on Felicity and if this was going to work then he needed to make sure that Felicity agreed to this on her own.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was more than a month later that Oliver started to put his plan into motion. 

Oliver was going to be a best man for the second time in as many years and was really looking forward to it. Not just because of how happy he knew that his best friend was, and how perfect Laurel and Tommy were for each other, but because he knew that once again he would be in the same wedding party as Felicity Smoak. 

For the Diggle wedding, everything had been thrown together at the last minute. The couple had been married before, and their little girl, Sarah Rose (named for Lyla's grandmother) was teething so they hadn't really had the energy to plan a big affair. So there hadn't been a wedding shower, a huge reception or anything. 

But the Lance/Merlyn Wedding? That was the social event of the season and they had planned weeks of events leading up to the big day. And if Oliver had his way, then Felicity would be on his arm by the reception. 

His first step though, was to approach her in a way that showed her that he was interested in more than her ass (no matter how great of an ass it was). He knew that the bridal party was meeting for a final dress fitting at the dress shop right off of Park View and he had conned the meeting time out of Tommy. He also knew that Felicity had picked Thea up that morning from the Loft in her Mini and they had plans to go to lunch right after the fitting. 

So Oliver scheduled his meeting with the bank (that happened to be right across the street from the dress shop) to end right as the dress fitting did. As he crossed the street, he saw his sister coming out of the shop, arm and arm with his target. They were both smiling and laughing at something that Sarah had said and Oliver used their distraction to position himself in their path. He quickly pulled out his phone and looked down at it, opening random apps and braced himself for the impact. Seconds later he felt his sister bump into him. 

Mere moments later Oliver's plan was in place and he was walking with Felicity and Thea down Park View, on their way to the diner for lunch. 

This wasn't the first time that he had shared a meal with Felicity, not even close. But normally their shared meals were loud, full of laughter and chatter. They had only ever socialized in big groups. Now they were sitting in a small corner booth, and he was sitting on the opposite side, facing her and Thea as they perused the menu. 

The three of them chatted casually. Oliver asked them about the dress fitting as they all ate, and Thea asked him how his meeting had gone. They discussed the upcoming wedding celebration and talked about how fun it was to tease Tommy over how sappy he was becoming. It was all very casual and unassuming. Then Thea got up to use the restroom, flagging the waitress down for their check. 

That left Oliver and Felicity at the table alone and she pulled her phone from her bag. She seemed to be checking her work email, not really paying attention to his presence and he took a deep breath. 

“Hey, so I was thinking.” He started and he saw her roll her eyes at her phone and he winced. He knew she expected him to make a move, that had always been his m.o before. But she still was a nice person, so she looked him in the eye and smiled, albeit reluctantly. 

“Tommy and Laurel aren't really the bachelor/bachelorette party kind of couple. You know? I mean Tommy was a few years ago sure. But as sappy as those two are I can't see them having strippers or anything like that. So I was thinking of maybe throwing them a joint surprise party kind of thing.” He said, keeping his tone casual like he had practiced. 

Felicity just blinked at him. 

“You don't want to have a bachelor party for Tommy?” She asked, her mouth hanging open in a way that would have been unattractive on anyone else.

He nodded. “Yeah, and I was hoping you could help me plan it?” He asked, forcing himself to maintain eye contact. His throat was starting to feel tight and scratchy and he fought himself to not look away and take a sip of his water. 

“Why me?” She asked, sounding a little suspicious. He knew that she was still expecting this to turn into a line. 

“Well, normally I would ask Sarah because she's the maid of honor or Thea, because you know, we live together. But Sarah is going to be really busy the next few weeks with everything they already have planned, and I don't want them to figure it out. And Thea is so busy at the club, with getting it up and running and I don't want to add any stress to her.” He explained just the way he had rehearsed. 

She arched her brow. “And, what? I'm not busy? CEO of a new tech company?” She asked him and his stomach dropped. He had worried that would come up. But he honestly didn't have an answer to that. Not one that wouldn't make his intentions clear, anyway. Just as he was starting to worry she cracked a smile. Probably the first time he had ever seen that particular smile directed at him.

“I'm kidding, Queen. Relax. I'll help you. Just let me know what you need me to do, I'm your girl.” She said and his heart started to pound so loudly that he was sure she could hear it. She ran the words back through her mind and then flushed. “I mean, not your girl, girl. I'm not coming on to you. I don't mean that I'm YOUR girl, just that I'm your GIRL. I know those sound the same but they sound totally different in my head.” She babbled, her eyes squeezed closed tightly behind her glasses and he smiled, his heart rate not slowing in the slightest. 

“Yeah, I got it.” He answered, biting his lip a little to keep his grin from taking over his face.

“So when and where do you need me?” She asked, and her eyes widened. But before either of them could say anything else Thea reappeared, the check in her hand and it was time to leave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oliver made sure to ask Thea that night for Felicity's number. 

She had looked at him very strangely for second and he knew that she was wondering how after all of these years did he not have her phone number, but she didn't ask. She just pawed at the screen of her phone for a few seconds and then his phone buzzed with the shared contact. 

Moments later he had saved the info, and later that night after he got ready for bed he sat, leaning against his headboard, his phone in his hand. 

**Oliver: Hey, it's me. I got your number from Thea. Hope that's okay.**

**Oliver: Me means Oliver, btw. I don't know if that was clear or not.**

**Oliver: Oliver Queen.**

He stared at the screen, wondering if he the delete button actually removed the message from someone elses phone. 

He was just about to poke his own eye out in embarrassment when his phone buzzed in his lap and he quickly opened the message. 

**Felicity: Oliver _Jonas_ Queen? Because I know like 10 Oliver Queens, and they all have sisters named Thea.**

He stared at the screen in shock. Was she? Was she teasing him? That was new. 

**Oliver: Haha. I'm sorry. I guess it just occurred to me that I've never 'texted' you before. It felt weird.**

He ran his hand over his face and cursed himself for not practicing this interaction first. He obviously wasn't very good at this without a dry run first. 

**Felicity: It's fine.**

**Felicity: That she gave you my number, I mean. Not that you text like an old man.**

**Oliver: Good.**

**Oliver: Wait, what?**

**Felicity: You're suck a dork.**

**Felicity: *such**

Oliver smiled. Yes, she was for sure teasing him. This was good, This was working. 

**Oliver: Yeah, yeah, yeah okay whatever.**

**Oliver: I just wanted to make sure that you were serious about helping me plan this thing for Tommy and Laurel.**

He sucked in a deep breath, hoping that she hadn't rethought her decision from earlier. 

**Felicity: Oh, of course. It's sounds like fun and I'm sure they will love it. Besides, I am still kinda bummed that I didn't get to help Dig with his wedding that much, so now I can go over board.**

She even babbled via text. He was so screwed. 

**Oliver: Okay good. Do you mind if we meet up for lunch sometime this week? To discuss?**

He pressed send before he could psych himself out. 

There was a long pause before she responded and he started to get worried. 

**Felicity: Oliver, are you feeling okay? Because this is the first time that you've asked me to lunch and didn't try to unsnap my bra. I just had to check and make sure you didn't do it telepathically.**

Oliver laughed out loud, it was so abrupt that is shocked him and he slapped a hand over his mouth. 

****Oliver: I'm good, but I'm not that good...yet.** **

****Oliver: But seriously, I'm not asking you out. I just think talking it over in person would be easier.** **

**Oliver: Since I text like an old man.**

She didn't respond right away, but this time he wasn't really worried. He had just sat the phone down, leaning over to turn off his beside light when his phone buzzed. 

**Felicity: Well, duh. Fine, lets meet at Big Belly on Saturday? Say 11ish?**

He grinned into his pillow, feeling like a 13 year old girl and laughed. 

**Oliver: Make it 12ish and you've got a deal.**

**Felicity: Thank god. I try not to get out bed until at least 10 on Saturdays and you don't want to see this bed head in a public forum.**

He doubted that very seriously but just smiled. 

**Oliver: Deal, see you then.**

Oliver was sure this was the first time that he had ever fallen asleep with a smile on his face that wasn't the result of something dirty. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Step Three: Friends?


	5. Step Three: Friends?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity isn't really sure what's happening with Oliver. He's acting like they're friends or something.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The response to this story surprises me everyday. Thank you all so much.

Step Three: Friends?

The Merlyn/Lance wedding was the biggest event of the year for Starling City. 

Tommy was a rising star in his father's company and had just backed the opening of the newest (and hottest) club in town, Verdant (even though Thea was the brains and brawn behind the operation) and Laurel was always making headlines while on her quest to rid the city of criminals with her work in the District Attorney's office. 

But that wasn't the only reason the nuptials where constantly featured on gossip blogs nationwide. 

In recent years, Malcolm, Tommy's father had received some not so great press and was currently doing everything he could to prove to the city that he was overjoyed with his only son marrying into a blue collar family. Especially since that blue collar family was led by the respected Captain Lance. 

Malcolm had hired the hottest wedding coordinator on the West Coast and had given her a blank check. That resulted in two weeks worth of festivities leading up to the big day. So now the happy (and overwhelmed) couple would be celebrating a wedding shower, a bridal shower, a grooms weekend, a brides spa weekend and of course, the rehearsal dinner that took place before the three day weekend that was the wedding. 

It was too much, both Tommy and Laurel knew that, but Tommy and his Dad had just recently gotten to a good place in their relationship and they both decided to let it slide. They chose to focus on the extra time they were getting to celebrate their big day. 

They were both being very positive about the whole thing, but Felicity knew that they were both stressed out. So when Oliver had suggested that they throw them a surprise joint bachelor/bachelorette party she jumped at the chance to give the couple something that was just for them.

Even if that meant that she would have to spend a lot of one on one alone time with Oliver. That part she had dreaded. She had worried secretly that the whole thing was just another ploy of his to get her into bed. 

But so far, in the past week she had experienced not one, but two totally platonic interactions with Oliver Queen. To say that she was confused would be putting it mildly.

During the first encounter it was understandable. She and Thea had been leaving a dress fitting and had run into him on the street. It was a little unexpected, but not that out of the ordinary seeing as they were all downtown. They had all sat down together for a very casual lunch and she and Oliver had actually made it through a conversation that didn't involve her hemline. He hadn't made a move on her, or looked down her top. But Felicity just kind of brushed it off, because he was with his sister. He usually didn't try to feel her up when Thea was watching, even he had standards. 

But then he had asked her for her help with the party and she had agreed, even though she was suspicious of his intentions. Especially after he had invited her to have lunch with him, under the guise of talking about the party.

But then they had lunch and she was even more lost. 

The entire way to Big Belly she had prepared herself to deal with him leering at her, or trying to get her to go to dinner with him. Her first surprise came when she arrived at the resturant. She had, of course expected him to show up late, (even though she didn't know that much about him, she did know that he was infamous for being late), but then she got there and he was already seated in the back corner at a booth and she had been more than a little impressed. 

She then steeled herself for whatever he had to throw at her. This would be the first time they had ever really been alone, unless you counted the darkened hallway of the Queen Mansion and she was sure that she would end up having to put him in his place. 

But then she sat down and he smiled softly then jumped right into the party planning. She was sure that she looked like a deer in headlights, because she was so stunned by his behavior that she just stared. She hadn't really expected to be planning a party. Well, she had, but she had at least expected some verbal sparring first. 

But she had snapped out of it and quickly looked through the plans that Oliver had put together over the last few days. After all she had been telling him the truth, she had felt seriously cheated by the speed of the Diggle wedding and was really looking forward to all of the excitement surrounding her friends big day. And she realized that he seemed to be taking the party seriously and then it was really easy for her to get lost in the party planning. 

Before she realized it, two hours had passed and she and Oliver hadn't had one awkward moment. Then it was time for her to leave for to meet her Mom for their hair appointment and as she got up she saw the first flash of the old Oliver. She leaned over the table, gathering the papers up, reached for her phone and purse and when she started to pull back she saw his eyes darken slightly and followed his gaze to her chest. So yeah, maybe wearing a strappy tank top with a built in bra wasn't the best idea for a lunch date with him. But the look was gone before she could reprimand him and then he was standing and offering to walk her to her car. 

She drove away utterly baffled by his behavior. He wasn't distant, he wasn't moody, he was just civil. He was acting as though they were just friends. It was a little unsettling. 

That night, after she had a late dinner with her Mom she was laying on her couch and catching up on the backlog on her DVR when her phone buzzed. 

It was Oliver. 

**Oliver: So, I was looking into maybe getting a DJ like we discussed, instead of a band. I think you're right and that would be just a little too much.**

She smiled, nodding her head.

**Felicity: Told ya'.**

She expected that to be the end of it, and started to get lost in her show when her phone buzzed a second time.

**Oliver: Well I asked Thea and she was telling me about this really awesome DJ that she's been trying to pin down for Verdant. Apparently he does private parties if the price is right, and she says that he's pretty great.**

She pursed her lips, her eyes shifting. 

**Felicity: And?**

**Oliver: Well, I checked out his Twitter and apparently he's going to be working downtown tomorrow night at Solas. I was planning on going to check him out, see if he's worth the trouble.**

He wasn't. Was he?

**Oliver: And I was thinking, that maybe you should come with me. I'm not really that great at judging music, it's all just background noise to me. And you know what Laurel likes.**

He was. Oliver was asking her to 'check out this hot DJ at a club' with him. And she actually didn't think it was a line. She started chewing in her lip.

**Felicity: Um, sure. But I can't stay out too late. I have a meeting first thing Mon am with my lawyer.**

Did she just agree to go to a club with Oliver?

**Oliver: Grandma.**

She smiled, rolling her eyes.

**Felicity: Do you want my help or not? ******

******Oliver: Yes please.** ** **

******Oliver: I'll pick you up around 9?** ** **

Why did he have to pick her up? This wasn't a date. Should she make sure that he knew this wasn't a date? He had to know that, right? 

******Oliver: You're closer to downtown than I am and I've seen how a glass of wine effects you. I'll drive.** ** **

Oh. That made sense. 

******Felicity: Okay, sure. 9.** ** **

Yeah. This was weird. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking that the next chapter needs to be both Oliver and Felicity POV. Let me know what you think.
> 
> Next Chapter- Step Four: Can I Have This Dance?


	6. Step Four: Can I Have This Dance?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity and Oliver go to a club, for 'research', because that's a thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was a lot harder than the previous ones, that's why the wait was so long. But to make up for that it is also extra long. Both POVs for this one and a little input from a friend. 
> 
> Let me know where you all would like to see this one go. I am still playing this one by ear, as long as there is interest I will keep it going.

Step Four: Can I Have This Dance?

The moment that she woke up, Felicity was keenly aware that she was going out with Oliver that night.

Not like out, out. Just out. The difference in the words made sense in her head as long as she didn't think about it too much. 

Not that she had a lot of time to think about how the emphasis on the word 'out' changed it's meaning. All she could really think about was her non-date with Oliver. 

It sat in the back of her mind all day, so that even as she was going about her normal Sunday routines she was mentally counting down for when he would be at her door. 

She had managed to avoid mentioning it to anyone, not wanting anyone to say out loud the things that were in her mind. She had even had lunch with Thea and Sin and the subject hadn't come up.

But then around 2 o'clock her phone had buzzed.

**Sarah: Hey lady, wanna come over and drink too much wine and watch Daredevil?**

Buzz.

**Sarah: The Netflix one, not the Ben Affleck one.**

Buzz.

**Sarah: Actually I don't care which one. They're both hot.**

She could have just said she had a migraine. But she didn't want to lie. 

**Felicity: Would. Can't, have plans.**

She hoped that would be the end of it. 

**Sarah: Oooh. Date?**

No such luck.

**Felicity: Not even kind of.**

It was true. 

**Sarah: You thought that was an answer? Try harder.**

She rolled her eyes.

**Felicity: Remember that party I'm helping with?**

She waited.

**Sarah: You mean that party that Oliver is using as an excuse to see your panties?**

**Sarah: Yeah, why?**

Sigh. 

**Felicity: Gross.**

**Felicity: The DJ he wants is working some club downtown tonight so I'm going with him to check it out.**

That was normal. It wasn't weird. Well it was but she didn't want Sarah to know that.

 

**Sarah: I thought you said you didn't have a date.**

Smart ass. 

**Felicity: Why are we friends?**

This is something she asked Sarah in a semi-regular basis. 

**Sarah: Because I'm fucking adorable.**

True. 

**Felicity: Debatable**

She smiled. 

**Sarah: You're dead to me.**

Typical. 

**Felicity: Say something nice at my funeral.**

She hoped that would be it. 

 

**Sarah: Let me know what you think of that tongue thing he does. It's pretty great.**

 

She hated the flush she felt move up the back of her neck. 

 

**Felicity: I'll tell him you think so. Unrelated, how's Nyssa?**

 

She deserved a fist pump for that.

 

**Sarah: Great, he taught me the tongue thing.**

Gag.

**Felicity: I need to make new friends.**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oliver had tried to stay cool all day. 

And failed miserably. 

This wasn't the first time he been to a club with a girl. Not even the first time he had been to a club with _this_ girl. But it was the first time that they had ever gone together. Just the two of them. And no, it wasn't a date. 

Yet. 

But he was treading a very fragile line and he knew it. If he couldn't show her that he was different, that they could be different, then he was never going to get past this awkward almost friends thing they had now. 

He stood on the front porch of her townhouse and starred at his feet, rocking back and forth on his heels and waited. He could hear her approaching the door and braced himself not to say anything stupid.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Felicity looked over at the door, biting her lip. Of course he had to continue this new trend of being on time. 

She took one last look in her hallway mirror, cringing at her outfit. Since she was so busy with the wedding and her new company, she hadn't had time last week to take in her dry cleaning, and had dropped it off yesterday afternoon. That meant that the only 'club worthy' dress that she had in her closet for tonight was the one that her Mother had given her for her last birthday. Donna Smoak had always been one for 'showing off what the good Lord gave you' and had been trying to get Felicity to dress like her since she had hit puberty. Which meant that Felicity was now currently stuffed into a skin tight, bright pink cocktail dress that barely hit mid-thigh and pushed her cleavage up and out so much that she was worried she would get a black eye every time she looked down to check her phone. 

Not exactly the dress that she wanted to be wearing when out with Oliver, but it was the best she could do on short notice. 

With one last groan she picked up her purse and walked to the door, flipping lights off as she went.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The door opened and there she stood, all cleavage, bright pink, blonde and shiny. 

“Fuck me.” He said instantly, his mind shutting down. 

“Excuse me?” She asked him, her eyebrow arching so quickly he wondered if she had sprained a muscle and he felt his heart start to pound. He could see her hand gripping the door, ready to slam it in his face and his was mind racing for something to stop that from happening.

“I-I just realized that I forgot to call Thea back this afternoon.” He blurted out, plastering a frustrated look on his face.

“Really?” She asked him, drawing out the word, her face the picture of disbelief. 

“Yeah, sorry I just saw you and it hit me.” He explained, waving his hand at his head and rolling his eyes. “How are you? You look nice.” He said, changing the subject and she just looked at him like he was sprouting horns. 

“F-fine. Thanks.” She said, pulling her door shut and walking past him, down the stairs.

He watched her, biting his tongue as he started to follow behind her. 

This was going to suck.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The car ride was pretty much the most awkward thing she had ever experienced. 

And considering her track record, that was saying a lot. 

He hadn't really said anything to her after he told her that she looked nice and the silence was practically vibrating. She kept searching her mind for something, anything to talk to him about but kept coming up blank. She really didn't know anything about his life other than what little she knew from Thea.

And she really didn't think that talking about how he likes to leave wet towels on the bathroom floor was going to made for a long lasting conversation.

So she just sighed loudly and looked out the window as the large buildings of downtown flew past.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thea wasn't wrong. Oliver thought, nodding his head slightly to the beat. 

Cole was an amazing DJ. 

Oliver looked around the club with a small smile, taking a casual sip of his drink and ran his eyes over the dance floor. He wasn't lying when he told Felicity that he didn't really know music. He had just never really put all that much thought into it. Cole could have been playing a Radio Shack keyboard for all he knew, but he could tell just by the excitement of the crowd that he had talent. 

Well, that and the fact that Felicity hadn't stopped moving since they walked in the door. 

Despite it being a Sunday night, when they had arrived an hour ago the line to get in had been around the block. But one of the best perks of being a Queen meant that he never had to wait in line, and even though she had put up a token protest, he could tell that Felicity had been grateful that she didn't have to stand outside in those heels. 

The second they had arrived she had bee-lined it for the bar (her first trip of many) and ordered her usual, and had been shimmying and swaying in the corner with him (he suspected that she couldn't do much more than that in her dress without putting on quite the show). Several guys had slithered over in the last hour, trying to pull her on the dance floor, but each time she had turned them down. She chose to dance by herself, signing softly along to the music. He couldn't help but smile when he looked at her, he knew that she was really uncomfortable being here with him. She hadn't said a word the whole car ride and had only spared a few since they walked into the club. But even with her nervousness she was enjoying herself.

And he could tell that she really wanted to dance. 

He bit his lip and with one last look at the dance floor he spun towards her.

“Can I have this dance?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She had consumed a lot of wine. 

She might be a little drunk.

But she was pretty sure that she was having a stroke. 

Her left arm hurt.

That was a sure sign of a stroke, right? Or was that a heart attack? Whatever, maybe it was an aneurysm.

Because there was no way that Oliver had just asked her-

“What?” She asked, her tongue feeling too big for her mouth all of a sudden. 

He had the nerve to look at her like SHE was the crazy one.

“Do you want to dance?” He asked again, slowly like she was a child. She would have been offended if she wasn't having an aneurysm. 

“What are you saying to me?” She asked, sure that there was something she was missing.

He smirked. That jerk.

“Dance. You're a smart girl, I’m sure that you've heard of the concept.” Oliver asked her and took a few steps towards her and suddenly air was an issue. Was he always this tall?

“Well, yeah. But I still don't understand what you're saying to me.” She said and winced, that nervous buzz from this afternoon returning with a vengeance.

Oliver looked down at her, his mouth curling into a smile that she didn't often see. 

“We're in a night club.” He said, turning his body and extending his arm, like he was presenting the room for her. “There is a DJ, a wide open floor and loud music. I am suggesting that we walk out there together and move to the music in a rhythmic manner. Dance.” He finished, his eyes full of laughter. 

She still wasn't totally sure what was happening. 

“You don't dance.” She said, because that was the only thing she knew for sure right now. 

“Who said?” He asked, looking mildly offended. 

“Everyone.” It was true. 

“Everyone?” He doubted her, she could tell.

“Yes. God, man, science, Thea. Everyone.” She wasn't making this up. She knew for a fact that Oliver Queen wasn't a dancer. 

“Seriously? God told you that I don't dance?” He was mocking her. Rude. 

“Personally. We are very close.” Well, she could be sassy too. 

“Fe-li-ci-ty.” That was new. Who knew that her name could sound so exhausting?

“Oliver. I was present at John and Lyla's wedding. I did see both Thea and the Bride try several times to pull you onto the floor. You weren't having it.” That happened. She was there. 

He nodded, and she was happy they were in agreement. But he wasn't done.

“That was then.” He said with a shrug and the confusion was back. 

“And now? How is this different?” She asked and something in his expression shifted. He wasn't joking. 

“It just is.” He answered, his eyes focused on a spot behind her head and she breathed deep her mind clearing for a second. 

“You're serious.” It wasn't a question, more of a realization. 

“Extremely.” He answered anyway. 

She looked past him to the dance floor and the back to him. 

“You want to dance. Out there. In public. With me?” She felt the need to cover her bases. 

“Very much.” He said, his eyes now back on her. 

She closed her eyes and sighed.

“Okay. Look. This is bizarre.” She went there. 

“Excuse me?” That offended look again. Awesome. 

She was sighing so much tonight that she felt like she was on Laguna Beach. 

“You get that right? A week ago you and I had never even had a conversation and now we are in a club and you want me to dance with you.” She told him, sitting down her wine and waving her hands in between them.

“You don't think we've ever had a conversation?” He looked surprised. 

She snorted. 

“Not one that didn't involved my panties.” Truth. 

His eyes shifted and he looked uncomfortable.

“That is- not entirely true.” He said quietly and she rolled her eyes with a smile. 

“You're not very self aware, are you?” She muttered and his eyes snapped back to hers. 

“Look. I get it. I'm an asshole. I've been a huge jerk to you more than once...a day. But I'm trying here, okay? I really want your help with this party and I really want us to be able to do something nice for Tommy and Laurel. So, just, can you please try to have a good time? Try to not hate me?” He sounded like he was begging. It tugged at her heart and she suddenly felt like an ass for giving him such a hard time. He really had been nice to her, she could tell that he was trying, and she really did want to help him. 

Maybe they could be friends. 

She stepped closer to him, once again struck by how tall he was and put her hand on his shoulder. 

“Oliver, I don't-I don't hate you.” She said firmly and then looked away. “I guess I just don't know you.”

He stayed quiet for a moment, looking down at her turned face and then he put his hand over her on his shoulder, pulling it away and sliding it under hers under they were laced together. Then he was pulling at her arm.

“Okay then. Let's do something about that. Lesson the first, I am a terrible dancer. Come see?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He had been right. 

She really wanted to dance, but in her dress pretty much all she was capable of was a little bit of hip shaking and a little bit of back and forth. She made due though, using her arms and shuffling her feet in time to the music, with him standing far enough away from her to not let on the effect that she was having on him, and close enough that the many wandering eyes didn't get any ideas. 

He hadn't lied, he was a terrible dancer. When he was younger, Moria had forced him into classes and he could cut a rug with the fanciest of them at Galas all around the city. But when it came to the dance floor as club he was pretty much stuck with the 'white boy shuffle' and a couple of fancy foot movements. 

They had a pretty okay time while dancing, Felicity had even smiled at him a few times and occasionally wrapped her arms loosely around his neck as she danced. But eventually they had to leave, both having meetings early the next morning so he had stopped by the bar to close out their tab while she made a quick trip to the ladies room and then they were on their way. 

The car ride back to her house was a lot less tense than earlier and the silence wasn't has heavy. She had easily climbed into the front seat, pulling off her heels and adjusted the seat farther back so that she could stretch out. The air was a lot cooler than it had been when they were out before, so Felicity let her window down as they pulled away from the valet and leaned her head against the door. 

They still didn't speak, but he didn't mind this time. He even took a few back roads to get to her townhouse, going the long way, but she either didn't notice or chose not to comment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Felicity looked up at her house and then back to Oliver, sitting in the drivers seat. 

He was looking at her with guarded eyes and small smile and she felt a little sad. She had actually had fun tonight. Not like normal fun, or what she would normally classify as fun, but it was almost nice. He had actually tried to be a nice guy tonight and hadn't failed miserably. 

Three encounters so far where he hadn't made her feel like she needed a shower. 

But she felt sad because she wasn't sure if it made a difference. 

She stared at him for a moment longer and pulled the handle on her door, smiled and turned to climb out. She leaned down, shutting her door and saw that he was just going to pull away, not expecting her to even say goodbye. 

“Hey.” She said, getting his attention.

He looked over, his hand still on the gear shift, his expression curious.

“You're not _that_ terrible of a dancer.” She smirked at him and gave a little wave, backing away to walk up her drive as he pulled away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was getting into bed when her phone buzzed. Her heart clawed it's way up to her throat, and it hit her that she was expecting it to be Oliver.

**Sarah: How was it?**

Felicity swallowed, her heart returning back to normal and rolled her eyes.

**Felicity: Odd.**

There wasn't really any other way to describe it.

**Sarah: Can you vague it up a bit for me?**

**Felicity: I dunno. He was nice.**

She considered for a second and then,

**Felicity: He danced.**

She waited a few moments and when she got no response she started to suspect that Sarah had gone to bed. 

But then Sara’s face appeared on the screen and Felicity rolled her eyes for what felt like the 10th time that day and she hit the accept key.

She didn't even get the chance to say hello before Sarah was laughing in her ear.

“I'm sorry. You saw Ollie dance? Please tell me you didn't let him grind on you? Because honestly that is the only thing I have ever seen him do. And he isn't even that good at it.” Her friend asked, laughing the whole time and Felicity sighed deeply, adjusting herself against the headboard.

“It wasn't like that. I'm not even sure what it was like. He asked me to dance, and then after this really intense speech I felt bad so I did. It was okay, I guess. A little weird.” She explained, cringing at herself in her dresser mirror. 

“Wait, what speech?” Sarah asked, not laughing now.

“I don't know. He said a bunch of stuff about me hating him, and him trying to do something nice. I think he was asking me to try and be friends? I'm not really sure. I mean, I told he's been acting odd. He hasn't hit on me in weeks. Maybe he's done trying? I don't know.” She trailed off and Sarah was silent for a while.

“Do you?” Sarah asked finally and Felicity didn't have to ask what she meant. 

“No, I don't hate him. I've just never really thought that much about him. I think he wants me to get to know him? But what's the point?” She asked softly. 

This time Sarah didn't have a response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Step Five: I'm Sorry, Do I know You?
> 
> If you want to see the dress Felicity wore then please check out me out on tumblr, rileyscottwrites


	7. I'm Sorry, Do I Know You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarah is curious about Oliver's intentions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Been a while, but life has gotten in the way more often than I would like. I hope to have another chapter up sometime this week.

I'm Sorry, Do I Know You? 

Oliver had been friends with Sarah for a long time. 

The definition of that word was always changing when it came to them, that was true. But they had always at least been on friendly terms. Sometimes they just casually acknowledged each other when out with mutual friends. Sometimes they got drinks and bitched about having to be adults. Sometimes they raced each other on the track at the old high-school in town. 

And of course there was that 6 month period during college that they spent every second together in a broom closet or a back seat. But that hadn't happened since Sarah had met Nyssa. 

But the point was that he had known her for way too long to not be a little weary when she showed up at his loft at 7 am on a Wednesday morning. 

He stepped aside as the smirking blonde slipped past him and into his home without so much as a greeting. 

“Hi, Sarah. Long time no see, how's the family. Why don't you come in, can I interest you in some coffee?” He muttered, as she went straight for the kitchen, making herself at home.

He followed her, taking a seat at the island as she puttered around the kitchen making herself a plate of eggs and a cup of coffee. She had yet to say anything to him, and he was starting to dread the inevitable. This was a new type of friendship with her and he wasn't getting the feeling that he wouldn't like it very much. 

Finally she was done, and came around the island to settle in beside him. She speared herself a forkful of (his) scrambled eggs and turned to look at him. 

“So, Ollie, what's the play?” She asked casually. He stared at her for a minute as she stuffed her face with the stolen breakfast and debated what course he should take. 

He knew she was here about Felicity. She was pretty much the only thing they had in common these days. Well, the only thing that would inspire an early morning visit anyways. 

They weren't really advice giving friends, so there could only be one reason she had decided to show up. She thought he was trying to pull something on Felicity.

It occurred to him suddenly that maybe Felicity wasn't the only person he cared about that hadn't seen the changes in him. 

He had never really discussed his feelings about Felicity with anyone besides Thea, and he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to start now. So he just arched a brow at her, rising from his seat to try and salvage a plate of eggs for himself out of what Sarah hadn't swiped. 

“I don't know what you're talking about.” He said to his plate, not looking at the blonde. 

“Ollie. Have we met? You do remember that I've seen your moves, right?” She reminded him, her fork halfway to her mouth. He looked her over and sighed. 

“If memory serves, you didn't really need a whole of convincing.” He snapped. 

She didn't take the bait. Sarah had never regretted their time together. 

“Yeah. You've seen a mirror. You know you're hot, and so am I. It was great, we had a lot of fun. But Ollie, that doesn't mean that I don't know how you try to get a girl. And I know what you're doing with Felicity.” She pushed, her face now serious.

He sat his plate in the sink, his appetite gone. “And you're here to tell me to back off. You know she hates me, she will never give me the time of day so I should just give it up. I've been an ass to her for over a decade and she will never seen me as anything other than a dipshit. I will just hurt her. I will just hurt myself. I'm just wasting my time. I'm going to tear apart the group. I'll piss off everyone. I'll ruin the wedding.” He listed off, his mouth curled into a bitter smile. “I know, Sarah. You don't have to say it, I know what you all think of me. I know what she thinks.”

“Did you know that you're an idiot?” She asked him after she watched his rant with a small smile. 

His gaze shot to her and he laughed, his anger deflating instantly. 

“Yeah, I knew that too.” He admitted, finally looking back down at his plate and taking a bite.

“I'm not here to tell you to stay away from Felicity. I'm not here to preach to you about the sanctity of the group. That's Digg's job.” She joked, hip checking him as she slid off of her stool and walked past him to the dump her plate in the sink. 

“Then what was the point of this little trip around the bend?” He questioned his plate. 

Rinsing off her plate and running her hands under the faucet, she turned back to him and smiled. “I'm just here because I know how you feel about her. I know you. I know how much you've been through the last few years and I know that if you're actually making a go of this thing now, that it's really important.” She told him pointedly, leaning onto the bar in front of him. 

He was sure that the amount of times his heart had stopped lately should be concerning. 

“And?” He asked her, breathless.

She shrugged. “And I think that's sweet. If you are doing it right. She doesn't know this side of you. She doesn't know this Oliver yet. Hell, I'm not even sure that most of us really know this version of you yet. So you need to let her get to know this side of you.” She advised, her expression serious. 

He nodded and looked away.

“Besides” She started, and he turned to look at her again “When she turns you down it will be nice to know it's the real you that she's not into.” She smirked. 

“Thanks for that.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Felicity was just settling down at her favorite coffee shop, her regular latte and her tablet gear up, when her phone buzzed.

Oliver.

She had been starting to think that he had grown bored with her. It had been a few days since their night at the club and she hadn't heard anything from him since then. 

She had tried to convince herself that it didn't bother her. She bit her lip and swiped at her screen.

**Oliver: So, the more I think about it, the more I realize that the DJ thing is a little too over the top.**

Huh.

**Felicity: You think?**

**Oliver: Yeah.**

**Oliver: I think maybe we are looking at this on too large a scale.**

**Oliver: I think we should do something simpler. Just the gang.**

**Oliver: You know?**

The rapid fire of his messages made her giggle.

**Felicity: So you want to just do something with the group of us? Like a dinner party?**

**Oliver: No, actually I thought maybe we can do a barbeque. Low key.**

**Oliver: I mean, everything else about the wedding is so huge.**

**Oliver: Maybe we can do it on the roof of our building?**

**Felicity: Yeah okay. That could be nice. Less stress.**

**Oliver: My thoughts exactly. You want to get together and talk menu?**

**Felicity: Sure.**

She paused and looked around the coffee shop, wondering if her cheeks were as flushed as they felt. 

**Felicity: I can do tonight.**

**Felicity: Dinner I mean.**

**Felicity: I mean, we can have dinner tonight so we can discuss.**

She was babbling via text. That was what her life had come to. 

**Oliver: Deal. Big Belly?**

**Felicity: 7?**

**Oliver: Deal.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wait a minute, did Felicity miss talking to Oliver for a few days? That's weird.


	8. The Wrong Queen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity falls for Oliver. Literally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is based on an personal experience that I had recently that kept me from writing, or doing much of anything for a while.

Felicity had always prided herself on her brains, not her brawn.

She wasn't weak, not by a long shot. 

She might dress in 6 inch heels, skirts that left little to the imagination and would never leave the house without putting her face on, but she was a pretty tough cookie. She worked out, she liked to punch things and she could squat with the best of them.

But she was also the clumsiest son of bitch on the planet. And that was always her downfall. 

But this time it wasn't her fault, not really. 

It was all Oliver Queen's fault, and she would swear to that under oath in any court in the land. 

It happened like this, 

They were having a perfectly lovely evening, Oliver had met her at Big Belly as planned at 7 and the conversation flowed easily. It had surprised her, they had known each other for so long, but after spending time together recently, she had noticed his absence over the last three days. 

They decided the barbecue idea was the way to go. Oliver volunteered to take care of the grill-able items and had elected Thea to provide the alcohol, shooting her quick text to confirm and then asked Felicity to provide the music and cover story for the guests of honor. 

After a little back and forth they wrote up the guest list, keeping it simple as originally agreed upon, with only 20 people. And they had even settled on a day and time, the night before the rehearsal dinner.

After working out all of the final details, they had just sat at their booth, sipping on their milkshakes and trading idle chit chat. 

It was … nice. 

And strange. 

They really should have gotten their check and went their separate ways once they had jokingly decided to force Laurel and Tommy to wear matching crowns. But they hadn't. They just kind of hung out. 

It hadn't seemed all that weird to her at the time. She was having fun, talking about all the plans she had for Smoak Signals and how quickly Sin was advancing. She even liked hearing him talk about how annoying it was to have everyone on the board at QC insist on calling him Mr. Queen even after he begged them not to. 

They talked for hours, about work and their friends and it seemed so normal for them to be together like this. 

But soon it was closing time and they had to pay the check and leave. 

She paid, and he didn't fuss. 

That was when things had started to feel weird. Because, as she was slipping her card back into her wallet she had a fleeting thought that this was the first time she had paid on a date and the guy didn't act like she was snipping off his balls. 

And then she had frozen in her spot, in a weird squatting position as she was exiting the booth.

Because in some part of her mind, buried deep, deep, deep down in the very back down a hole, she had let herself think this was a date.

With Oliver Queen. 

And it had been a good one. 

As they left Big Belly she felt herself start to get nervous, and being nervous around Oliver hadn't been a thing since she was 14. 

He was walking her to her car, still in small talk mode and she was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she wasn't watching where she was going. 

And that was how she ended up there, lying on her back, staring up at the night sky, the stars blurry through eyes that were watering in pain. 

After lying there for a few seconds, the air finally returned to her lungs as every part of her body started to pound in pain, and she was able to make out the fact that Oliver was hunched over her. 

“Felicity, are you okay? Are you hurt? ” He asked, right above her face, and she could tell that he was trying to keep his voice calm, but his eyes gave him away. 

He was freaking out. 

So even though she knew that she wasn't, she started to nod her head. She slowly came to sit up, with Oliver's help and she took in her surroundings. 

She had been so damn distracted by her scary Oliver-related thoughts that she had stepped right into a pothole. 

Her head hurt where she had banged it onto the concrete and her ankle was already swelling, her shoe getting tight and she could feel the blood running down into the crook of her arm from her busted elbow. But something about the look on Oliver's face made her want to downplay how much pain she was in. 

“Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. I um, I think I just rolled my ankle a little. It's good. I think I just got the air knocked out of me.” She said in a rush, her hand coming up to grip his shoulder in an effort to assure him that she was okay. He didn't look very convinced though, as he watched her struggling to stand. 

“Felicity, you're bleeding.” He whispered and her head started to swim and she had a feeling it wasn't because of her injuries. She looked at him, his face so close to hers, his eyes swimming with concern and her chest felt tight. 

Then an overwhelming desire to be anywhere else hit her. She scrambled to get off the ground, her movements jerky and painful. Oliver jumped back, his hands gripping her forearms as he tried to help her. 

Felicity schooled her expression, coaching herself not to grimace as she stood in front of him, the weight she was putting on her injured ankle causing tremors of pain to shoot up her leg. She brushed off her arms, the rocks and dirt digging into her skin and she straightened her clothes. 

'Lucky for me, it rained this afternoon.” She said on a forced laugh. “So happy that I found the wettest spot in the parking lot to land.”She joked, looking around them, glad they were the only ones left and that no one had witnessed her epic clumsiness. 

Oliver didn't look amused. “Felicity, I feel like I should take you to the hospital. You hit your head pretty hard.” He insisted, looking her over, his hands now shoved into his pockets. By the tightness in his arms she could tell his fists were clenched. He looked so worried and she was in way too much pain to put much thought it to that. 

All she knew was that she didn't want him fret over her. And she didn't have the energy to analyze why the thought of him upset was making her feel queasy. 

So she just shook her head slightly, not wanting to jostle her head so much. “Yeah, no. I'm just gonna head home. You know, ice, elevation, sleep. That's all I need. Ugh, I'm just such a clutz, I'm really sorry I ruined such a fun night. I don't want you to worry. I-I'm fine.” She babbled, bending over to pick up her bag and phone, both of which she had tossed on her way to the ground. 

It took some more prodding on her part, and a little bit of sulking on his, but eventually he agreed to let her leave. He had wanted to drive her home, or at the very least follow her. But she managed to convince him that it wasn't needed. She did have to promise to text him once she arrived safely though, that she figured was safe enough. 

By the time Felicity arrived at home, the adrenaline and nerves had worn off, and the pain that had been somewhat muted was hitting her full on. As she limped from her car to her front door, she cursed her bad luck. 

Over an hour later, after a very awkward and painful shower she was finally clean of blood and dirt and was getting dressed for bed. As she pulled on her sleep shorts she looked down at her injured ankle and groaned, the baseball that was now attached to her ankle making her feel nauseous. 

“Frak.” She muttered. 

She piled up all but one of her pillows at the foot of her bed and worked herself onto the mattress, putting her left leg high in the air. 

This was just great. 

She took a mental inventory of her kitchen, and sighed. She knew for a fact that her ice machine was broken, and the only thing in her freezer was two half empty pints of mint chocolate chip ice cream. So icing her ankle wasn't in the cards. After a quick google search on her tablet, she discovered that ibuprofen, the only pain killer she had in the house, was the one pain killer that she couldn't take for at least the next 48 hours. 

So essentially, she was screwed. 

So she sat in bed, pouting, exhausted and in pain and let Netflix lull her into an uncomfortable sleep. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Going to bed with a swollen ankle sucked. 

Trying fall asleep with a pounding headache, a bruised elbow and a throbbing ankle wasn't great.

But the most fun thing ever was waking up every hour, moaning in pain after she had rolled over and had jostled her ankle.

Well, it was the most fun until she had woken up at 5 am, with a full bladder and in more pain that that one time her appendix had burst. She grumbled to herself as she twisted her body out of the sheets and attempted to get herself out of her bed. 

It took her two seconds to realize that she had made a huge mistake. 

It took her about 5 minutes to realize that she wasn't going to make it out of her room.

It took her about half an hour to realize that she couldn't even make it back to her bed. 

After debating her options for a while, she finally made her way over to her rolling desk chair, flopping down with a whimper. She shuffled herself over to her bed again, and worked back into her previous position. 

Sleep was even harder to obtain now that she was hungry and needed to pee, all on top of her pain, so she just laid there, in her misery. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Calling her mother was out of the question, Donna Smoak was way too over protective and had always jumped at any chance to baby her. Sarah wouldn't be awake for hours and Laurel and Tommy were both so busy with work and wedding stuff she would never dream of bothering them. So after a quick text to Sin that she wouldn't be in the office today, she texted Thea. 

Her and Thea were best friends. And if she couldn't depend on her best friend in a time like this, then what was the point. 

Considering it was only 7 am on a Thursday morning she wasn't too surprised when Thea didn't answer her text right away. But then after about twenty minutes her phone rang. 

“What's up, Smoaky?” Thea asked her, sounding breathless as soon as Felicity accepted the call.

She rolled her eyes. Stupid Tommy Merlyn.  
“Don't call me that. Speedy.” She shot back, arching her brow. 

She heard Thea laugh on the other end. 

“Seriously, what's up? I don't usually hear anything from you until at least lunch.” Her friend asked, and Felicity could hear a lot of shuffling in the background. 

“I-I uh may have, possibly, kind of broken my ankle. Or well, it's probably just a sprain. Or maybe even just twisted a little.” She huffed, rolling her eyes at herself. “I don't know, but it hurts and I can't put any weight on it or move it much and I really need to pee.” She whined, picking up her pillow and tossing it across the room in frustration. 

“What did you do this time?” Thea asked, she was amused but Felicity could tell she was also a little concerned. “Wait,” She said suddenly, something occurring to her “Does Ollie know about this?” She asked and the amusement was replaced with suspicion. 

Felicity bit her lip, her eyebrows knitting together. “Yeah. I mean, I was with him when I fell, so yeah he knows.” She answered, and then groaned “Shit! I forgot to text him when I get home last night. Is he mad?” She asked, worried.

“Mad?” Thea asked, amused again. “That's not the wording I would use. I got a text from him at like 1am asking if I had heard from you. He didn't want to 'harass' you or whatever, but he wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“Ugh, damn it. Tell him I'm sorry.” She muttered through her fingers, her palm flat on her face. Wait, he sent you a text? Where are you?” She asked her tone coy, already kind of knowing the answer. 

“The Glades.” Was the only answer she got, and Felicity smirked. It always cracked her up that Thea tried to act like her and Roy weren't that serious. 

“Slut.” She teased her best friend with no heat. 

“Oh, whatever.” Thea returned and she knew that her friend was flustered. “But anyways, what did you call about. Do you need me to bring you something later on? Need a ride to a doctor's appointment?”

Felicity frowned. “Later on?” She asked, worried. “No, actually I really need help right now. I don't think I need a doctor, but I'm pretty much stranded upstairs in my room and can't even get to the bathroom. I just need some help getting around for a bit.”

There was silence on the other end and Felicity started to fear for her bladder. 

“Oh, Felicity, if it were any other morning...” She dragged on, sounding guilty. “I have an 8am shipment at the club, I have to be there to sign. I am so sorry.” 

“Oh-oh, yeah, of course. I'm sorry to bug you. I'm sure I can find someone else to help.” Felicity covered quickly, her face flushed. She hated asking for help. 

Thea didn't respond right away, and she began to think that the call had been dropped. 

Finally Thea was talking again “Yeah, wait actually, you know what. It's handled, it'll be fine. I've got the spare key and you'll be golden in like half and hour.”

Felicity pulled her phone away from her face when she heard the connection end and starred at it for a second. 

That was bizarre, but not totally unlike Thea. Either way, she had someone coming to help her and that made her feel less panicked now. She settled in, clicked her tv on and waited. As promised, one 'Friends' episode later, she heard the door downstairs open and smiled with relief. 

“Thea, oh my God, you are such a life saver. Really, if you didn't get here soon I would have peed my pants.” She yelled, laughing. She could hear her friend coming up the stairs and started to slide herself towards the side of the bed, her legs hanging over. 

The door to her room opened and she looked up, her smile fading quickly. 

Standing her in doorway, wearing a smirk was Oliver. 

“Wrong Queen.” She whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we aren't the only ones that get to see a different side of Oliver.


	9. Lesson the Second

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity really needs to pee, and Oliver brought snacks, it's a party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second update in the last few hours, so make sure you read 'The Wrong Queen' first. 
> 
> I couldn't wait to write and post this chapter, I'm impatient like that sometimes.

If Felicity could have imagined the most humiliating position for Oliver to find her in, this would have blown that image out of the water. 

She hadn't been expecting company last night after she had gotten out of the shower. So she had just thrown on a crappy old tank top and a baggy pair of sleep shorts. 

No bra. 

No panties.

And she of course hadn't even bothered to brush her hair, because why would she? And on top of that, all of her painful tossing and turning during the night had turned her simple bun into a rats nest on top of her head that wasn't even really being held up by the hair tie anymore, but mostly with the knotted up hair. 

Not to mention that she hadn't washed her face, or brushed her teeth, or shaved her legs in days. 

Not that she felt that women were obligated to shave their legs for men.

Not that she expected Oliver to be close enough to her legs to see that they weren't shaved. 

But still. Awkward. 

If he had been anyone else, Thea, Laurel, hell even Roy or Tommy she wouldn't have cared that she was mostly naked sitting up in bed with knotty hair and looking like garbage warmed over. But for some reason, Oliver seeing her this way? Made her feel even worse than she had twenty minutes ago. 

How the frak was she supposed to ask Oliver fuckboy Queen to help her go pee?!

“I-I uh, I wasn't too sure that you would want me to help with that part.” Oliver said suddenly, from across the room, now looking just as uncomfortable as she felt. That was when she realized that she had said the last part out loud. Great. “But I did bring some supplies. I'll be right back.” He said hurriedly and turned to leave her room. 

What on earth could he mean by 'supplies'?

She found out a few moments later when he came rushing up the stairs and she couldn't help but laugh. 

“Crutches?” She asked, pulling her arms up to cross over her chest in the spirit of modesty and smiled at him. “You did come prepared. Nice.” 

Oliver smiled, walking towards her. “Yeah, Thea mentioned that you were having a tough time getting around. I have more stuff downstairs, but I figured we should handle the priority stuff first. First things first, keep you from peeing on me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oliver smirked as Felicity snapped the bathroom door shut in his face, the crutches had definitely helped her get from her room to the bathroom down the hall, but she was still pretty shaky, constantly fighting her instincts to step first with her injured foot. So he had followed her, keeping her from banging into the door jam and walls, and tried not to laugh at her. 

He knew she was hurting, and he knew that she was uncomfortable but she was still pretty freaking adorable. 

Once the door was closed and he could here her bumping around he figured it was safe to leave her alone. He turned and headed down the stairs, moving quickly to get the living room prepared. He knew that leaving her upstairs would be more comfortable for her with her bed and all, but downstairs would be much easier for her to navigate. 

Plus, that was where the food lived. 

So he grabbed the bags he had left by the door and headed to the living room, setting up a space for her on the couch. Just as he was finishing up he started to grow concerned for her. It was taking her a while and he started to worry that she had fallen. He turned towards the stairs when he heard a steady bumping. 

Felicity was literally scooting down the stairs on her butt, the crutches in the air above her head. 

“Good, God woman. What are you doing?” He asked, not able to hold back his laughter. 

She was sitting on the bottom step now, a pout on her face. 

“I am not incapable of caring for myself you know. I am a grown woman.” She insisted. 

“Well then,“He started, rolling his eyes “why are you just sitting there?”

The pout grew. “I can't get up.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The fact that Thea had given Oliver her spare key annoyed her to no end.

The fact that Thea hadn't even texted her to warn her that he was on his way over made her angry.

The fact that Oliver was much better at this care-giving thing than Thea could ever hope to be? Really pissed her off. 

He had gone overboard, in the best of ways. He had brought ice packs, and ace bandages and three different kinds of Tylenol for her pain (the one pain killer she could have and how did he even know that?). When he had helped her up from the stairs and helped her hobble over to the couch she was very impressed with the set up. 

He had pulled all over the blankets from her hope chest/coffee table and spread them over the couch and had set up all of the throw pillows so that she could easily elevate her foot. Her TV was all set up for a Netflix marathon and there was an array of snack foods within arms reach. It was ankle sprain heaven and she wanted to do a little dance. But then quickly decided that would be counterproductive. 

After helping her to settle on the couch in the most comfortable position, he pulled the table closer for him to sit on so that he could examine her ankle.

So there went to whole 'seeing her unshaven legs' thing. Peachy. 

She grimaced as he lightly ran his fingers along her foot, barely touching it.

“Well, the good news is that it isn't broken.” He said, sitting back to squeeze one of the ice packs to activate it. 

“You don't think?” She asked, feeling hopeful.

“Nah. I mean, it is definitely sprained, and the bone is more than likely bruised. Which, unfortunately is usually worse than a clean break.” He explained as he gently laid the ice pack on the worst part of the swelling. She immediately felt a little better.

“A break is better?” She asked, doubtful.

He nodded, reaching behind him to grab an ace bandage and started to unravel it. 

“Yeah. Then you would just get a cast. But a doctor can't really do anything for this. A sprain mostly just needs ice and rest. Elevation is key, and I get that you kept it elevated last night, but it needs to be in a fixed position too. Moving it around is just going to make it worse. That's what this,” He said, shaking the bandage at her as he started to wrap it, “is for.” 

He urged her to lift her leg so that he could fully wrap her ankle and she hissed, sucking in air through her teeth. 

“Sorry.” He whispered, his face clenched. 

Once her ankle was stable he helped her rest it and she sat back, flopping her head onto the cushions behind her and sighed. 

“Thanks for this. Really, Oliver you didn't have to.” She said, sincerely, rolling her head to the side to smile at him. 

He returned her smile, rubbing his hands on his thighs and moving to stand. “No big deal. I was happy to help. I-I uh should probably get going though.” He said, jerking his thumb towards the door.

Felicity felt herself sit up straighter and smoothed her shorts in a nervous gesture. “Oh-oh, yeah of course. I'm sure you have a lot to do at work. I'm sorry, you're probably late.” 

“Oh, um no actually. I uh, I had my assistant cancel all of my meetings today.” He admitted, looking above her head. 

“Wh-why?” She heard herself ask and flushed. 

“Well, Thea didn't know how bad you were. So I wanted to make sure that I was free to help as much as needed.” He said, shrugging, still not really meeting her eyes. 

“Oliver.” She felt her chest clench and was surprised at how soft her voice was when she said his name. She hadn't even meant to speak. 

They stayed in silence for a few moments, the air thick. Finally she cleared her throat, “Um, so does this mean that you are free today?” She asked, picking at the loose threads in her old tank top. “I mean, if you don't have work and don't really have anything planned, you could hang out here. I-I mean, I'm stuck here and you brought all of this junk food, and I have Netflix and Hulu and HBO Go and-” She stopped when he moved to sit down beside her, his body much to large for the small amount of space left on the couch and he smiled. 

“I can stay.” He said simply and she smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In all of the years that he had imagined being with Felicity, this is what he had imagined. 

Well, minus the naked parts.

But this was amazing, her in her pajamas, laying on one end of the couch half asleep and him in the middle, her legs across his lap, watching some silly super hero show on tv and in general, just being together. 

It was so comfortable and familiar feeling that even he as starting to drift off. 

But then he heard Felicity's stomach rumble and he looked down at his phone, seeing that it was well past lunch. He looked over at her to see her blushing and smiled. 

“My thoughts exactly.” He said, motioning to her stomach and slid out from behind her legs, climbing to his feet. “Chinese?” He asked, stretching and he started swiping through his contacts on his phone for his delivery place. 

Felicity smiled and nodded “Yeah, and I'll have whatever.” She said, then pulled a face “anything without-” she started and Oliver nodded “Nuts, yeah I know.” and then he walked away to make the call, missing the look on her face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Felicity wasn't entirely sure what had prompted her to ask Oliver to stay. She just knew that him playing hooky for a day of work, and coming to her rescue with all of the perfect things, had been standing there looking for all the world like he didn't deserve even a thank you. 

So she had asked him to stay. 

And he remembered that she was allergic to nuts. She had seriously dated guys for months before they had gotten that through their heads. 

And now they were cuddled on the couch together, eating Chinese out of their laps with Doctor Who reruns on tv and she was finding it hard to remember that she was ever in pain. 

“So,” She started, spearing a sweet and sour chicken on the end of her chopstick, waving it towards him “where exactly did you get crutches?” She asked, taking a large bite.

“Remember that bike accident I had a couple of years ago?” He asked, around a mouthful of lo mien and she made a face. She thought back and thought she recalled Thea mentioning something about Oliver breaking his leg at some point so she nodded, feeling guilty for not knowing the details. “I needed them for a few months, and I just kept them. No need to get rid of them, and while I wish you weren't hurt, I'm glad I had them handy.”

She nodded, examining her food so he wouldn't see her smile. He was actually very charming when he wasn't trying to get laid. “And all the other stuff? How do you know so much about breaks and sprains?”

He shifted, putting his now empty take out container on the table. “I work out.” He said, shrugging casually, like that explained it. 

She nodded. “I've noticed.” She said and then froze, her eyes slamming shut “I said, not noticed, right?” She asked, knowing how panicked she sounded. She heard Oliver laugh. “Felicity,” he started, his hand reaching out to grip her chin lightly and she opened her eyes. 

“I think we both know just how attractive that I find you. You can 'notice' me all you want.” He said, his voice teasing and she swallowed heavily. “But, yeah. I work out, and I used to not be as dedicated to it and took some stupid risks. So I used to hurt myself a lot, learned the hard way how to condition yourself.” He explained, sitting back and resting his arms on the back of the couch. 

“Oh.” Felicity said, wishing she had something more intelligent to add, but her chin was still warm from where he had gripped her and that didn't seem normal.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At some point after lunch, and the fourth episode of Doctor Who, Oliver had fallen asleep. 

As he came to, snapping back awake he took in his surroundings, it took him a few seconds before he remembered where he was and why. He looked over and saw Felicity watching him, a small smile on her face.

“You snore.” She said, teasingly and he laughed. 

“Sorry.” He yawned, still smiling.

“Was that lesson the second?” She asked him and he frowned, not understanding. 

“The other night, you said I had a lot to learn about you. Lesson one was that you're a bad dancer. Was lesson two that you snore?” 

He smiled. “It can be.” He nodded and she laughed. 

“What's the third?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The response to this story is always surprising and delighting me. Thank you all so much for the feedback. It is genuinely what drives me to write more.


	10. Fuckboy, or Sap, Which is Worse?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Felicity get a visitor and Felicity learns a few more things about Oliver.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing hasn't been the easiest thing for me the past few weeks, I have a few irl issues happening and need to take a step back until these issues are settled. I haven't abandoned my two fics by any means, but the updates will be more sporadic. 
> 
> Thank you all so much for your positive feedback. It really means so much to hear from all of you.

Fuckboy, or Sap, Which is Worse? 

It turns out that Felicity's third lesson on Oliver Queen was that he had awful taste in movies. 

Apparently it was legendary.

Basically every movie that the masses hated, Oliver loved.

Ben Affleck's Daredevil? Loved it. Thought it was better than the Netflix series.

The Star Wars prequels? He couldn't get enough. He thought Jake Lloyd was an inspired choice. 

His favorite Iron Man? The second one. 

It was incredible, and it amused Felicity to no end. 

After lunch they spent the better part of the afternoon with her in a fit of giggles on the couch, quizzing him on horrible movie trivia. 

They scavenged on Netflix to find the lowest rated movies and watched his favorite scenes while Felicity cackled into a pillow, Oliver grinning like a lunatic the entire time. She kept waiting for him to get offended at her teasing, but he just kept assuring her that Thea had tortured him for his taste in movies since she had learned how to talk, so it wasn't anything he wasn't used to. 

The hours flew by and before she knew it, it was early evening and as they skipped through scenes of the 3rd Fast and the Furious movie (Oliver's favorite of the franchise, of course) a knock sounded on the front door, breaking into their banter. 

Oliver being the only one with two working feet, got up to answer the door and Felicity was surprised to see Sin on the other side. Her friend/co-worker/intern/adorable cinnamon roll was standing there, holding a stack of folders in her hand, her patented 'wtf' look on her face as she glanced in between Oliver holding the door open, and Felicity on the couch. 

She could only imagine what this looked like to an outsider. She was still dressed in her poor excuse for pajamas, her face still free of makeup and her hair still a mess, and to top it off she was flushed and breathless from hours of laughing. And then Oliver stood there in all of is 'I work out-ness' and he looked a little flushed himself, his clothes all wrinkled from their day of leisure. 

Sin looked past Oliver, her eyebrow arched in extreme judgment as her eyes roamed over Felicity and the couch. Felicity knew she was blushing and bit her lip to stop the incoming ramble. The three of them stood in silence, exchanging awkward looks for several long moments until finally Sin smirked and cleared her throat. 

“So, this is just about the coziest sick day I've ever seen.” She snarked, slipping past Oliver and making her way into the living room. Oliver let out a huff of laughter and Felicity groaned. She started to explain, but Sin, who was pretty go at making herself comfortable anywhere, was suddenly clearing herself a seat on the couch and in the process revealed Felicity's injury. 

“Whoa, Blondie what the hell?” She asked, her smirk gone, replaced with concern. 

Felicity rolled her eyes at Oliver when he met her eyes with a grin. “It's a long story.” She said to her friend as Oliver started to work his way around the room, starting to pick up the mess. 

“You fell?” Sin asked, looking at Felicity's leg like she was going to puke. 

“I guess it's not that long.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As it turned out, Sin, the newest member of their wacky little family had stopped by after end of business to bring over some contracts for Felicity to sign. It was nice that she had good people working for her, he appreciated them making accommodations for her. 

He had expected the intern to stop in, go over the papers with Felicity quickly and then be on her way, but after about 45 minutes he started to notice that she was shooting looks at Felicity and the women seemed to be sharing a conversation without actually talking. 

It was more than a little awkward for him and he had a feeling it was only going to get worse, if the widening of Felicity's eyes was any indication. He has always prided himself on his self-preservation skills, so he started to make leaving noises, grabbing his keys and slipping on his shoes. 

Sin looked at him, her eyes narrowed as if she was suspicious and then she stood from the couch suddenly. “I'm gonna hit the head.” She said loudly, pointing vaguely to the bathroom down the hall. She walked past him, slapping him on the shoulder with a “See ya, Queen.” and then she was gone. 

He let out an awkward chuckle and looked over at the couch, where Felicity was sitting, looking a little sheepish. “All class, that one.” She joked. Then frowned, “I-I uh, I guess you need to head out? I'm really sorry to keep you all day.” She offered, and he could swear she seemed a little sad. But he nodded anyway. 

“You didn't keep me, I had fun. But I do have a dinner thing, and she seems like she's dying to get some info out of you and I'd rather not be here for the interrogation.” He conceded, tilting his head down the hall. 

“Ah. Well thanks again for helping out.” She said with a small smile and he sighed heavily. He had been dreading this moment all day. He walked slowly over to the back of the couch, his hands in his pockets. “Look.” He started and then stopped with a huff of air and he bit the inside of his cheek. He felt his chest tighten and knew that he was about to cross a line and even though the day had gone so well, he was 98% sure this would blow up in his face. But it had to be done.

“Look. I um, I would like to think that we're friends.” He started again, and she looked like she wanted to interrupt. “I know that I've always thought of you that way, but I know now that it wasn't always that way for you. But I hope that lately, that lately we've been working towards changing that.” He said softly, now standing above her, his knees pressed to the back of the couch. 

“Oliver.” 

“And, since we've been doing this whole, sharing thing, I feel like I should also let you in on something else about me.” He told her, smiling at her look of confusion. “Now, like I said, I consider us friends. But I'm not to sure we are these kinds of friends. Not yet, but if we aren't then I would really appreciate you not punching me in the face for this. I have a reputation to protect and being beat up by a girl with a busted up ankle would ruin me.” 

“Oliver, what are you talking about?” She asked him, her head now tilted back to look up at him as he lowered his head into her personal space. He took a deep breath and then smirked at her for a second before closing the remaining distance between them, bringing his lips to the very edge of her forehead, right where her hairline ended. He remained there for a few seconds, bringing his hands from his pockets to grasp the sides of her face, cradling her cheeks as he pressed a firm kiss to her skin. As he started to pulled away he could hear her gasp in surprise and he swallowed hard.

That was both the smartest and the stupidest thing he had ever done. No matter what her reaction was going to be. 

“Goodbye, Felicity. I'll stop in tomorrow to check in on you if that's okay.” He said as he slowly stood back up, his hands in his pockets again. She wasn't saying anything, just staring at him in confusion, so he turned to walk away, not sure he wanted to be there when she snapped out of it. 

His hand was on the doorknob when she finally spoke. 

“So, lesson four is that you're a huge sap?” She asked and he turned to look at her, surprised that she was smiling. 

He shrugged, stepping onto her stoop and moving to pull the door shut. “That really shouldn't be a lesson, I think you should have known that already.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So.” 

Felicity was perfectly content to let the silence continue. Sin has returned from her bathroom trip just as Oliver had shut the door behind him, ensuring that Felicity knew that she had been eavesdropping the whole time. Since then they had just been sitting on the couch together, as Felicity awkwardly flipped through her Netflix list and avoided Sin's suspicious gaze. Felicity wasn't sure how to feel about what had transpired between her an Oliver that day, but she _was_ sure that she had zero desire to discuss it with Sin. Now it seemed that the other girl was tired of pretending. 

“So?” Felicity returned, not overly enthused about the talk she knew was coming. 

“He's a fuckboy, huh?” Her friend asked, and Felicity looked at her sharply, her face flaming. Sin was looking at her, her gaze fixed on the tv, her small frame relaxed and calm. 

“Excuse me?” She heard herself ask defensively. 

“Queen. You're boy, Oliver. He's just a fuckboy? Only cares about sex, his bike and his sister. And probably in that order?” The smaller girl asked, finally turning to meet her stare. Felicity felt her hackles rise. This was no one’s business. 

“What's your point, Sidney?” She asked snidely, and realized that she didn't like the way her voice sounded when she was being nasty. 

“Not my name.” Sin returned quickly, seeming amused at Felicity's cheap shot. “And you know my point, blondie.”

She wasn't going to cave that easily. “Pretend I'm stupid.” She insisted. 

“That is looking a lot more plausible than a few weeks ago.” Sin snarked, her eyebrows high. 

Ouch. 

“Rude and unnecessary.” 

“What the hell are you doing with Oliver Queen?” She asked, matter-of-factly, not afraid to get to the point. 

“I fell, he was there. I needed help and Thea was busy. He came and decided to stick around because he was off anyway.” Felicity told her simply, fudging the last little bit. 

“He was off? The CEO of the biggest company on the West Coast was off work in the middle of the week? Convenient.” 

The sass was so real, and Felicity knew that sometimes it was easy for her employees, especially Sin, to forget that she was a bad ass, independent business woman. 

“Hey, you're cute and sometimes I wish I could carry you around in my pocket like emo barbie, but I am still your boss. Use your words.”

Sin rolled her eyes, but had the foresight to look chastised. “He loves you.” She said softly. 

The flutter in her chest was vastly different than the stone that usually sat there when anyone made mention of Oliver's affections for her. 

“You don't know that.” She said, shaking her head and averting her eyes. 

“You do.” Sin said in the same soft voice. And Felicity found it hard to swallow. “You know, and you don't feel the same way about him.” She managed to swallow then, but coughed when the dryness of her throat made the action difficult. 

“Y-you don't know that either.” She said and couldn't for the life of her figure out why that had been her response. 

Sin laughed, but the sound wasn't a pleasant one. She got to her feet, grabbing the folder with the signed contracts and straightened her jacket.

“Well, what I know doesn't matter. Six weeks ago you didn't care to be in the same room as this guy. You only had him in your life because it was inconvenient not to. And now you're cuddling with him on the couch? You really need to make sure that you know what you're doing. This is all new to you. But it's not to him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, we are getting somewhere. Felicity has actually (kind of) admitted that she isn't oblivious to the amazing-ness that is Oliver.


	11. The Reason The Word 'Ugh' Was Invented

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He's Oliver. But he's not Oliver. He's still Oliver, though. This was really confusing and her ankle still hurts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could go on for days thanking everyone for the amazing feedback, but that's not what you're here for. 
> 
> But seriously, thank you all so much.

_“He loves you...and you don't feel the same way about him.”_

_“You don't know that.”_

Felicity's night had definitely taken a dive after Oliver and Sin had left. She was good at avoiding her thoughts all day while Oliver was there. He made her laugh and distracted her from the real reason she had ended up plastered on the pavement the night before. But now that he was gone, and after the knowing looks and not so subtle words of Sin's, she was left alone with a throbbing ankle and a stomach full of butterflies. 

Thea had called around 8 to check in, and that was when Felicity found out that Oliver's 'dinner thing' had been with his sister. She wasn't entirely sure why the affirmation that he hadn't left her to go on a date with one of his random hookups was comforting. 

Her friend had promised to bring coffee and bagels by the following morning and then made her promise to call if she needed anything in the middle of the night. Felicity assured her that she would, but only because she didn't want to admit that Oliver had left her in pretty much the best position that she could be in. 

She didn't need anything. She was perfect. She was just fine. 

She didn't need to call anyone to help with anything. 

She had no reason to text anyone. 

She was comfortable, well fed and had 9 seasons of X-Files on Netflix all queued up. She didn't even have to pee.

So why was she so happy when her phone buzzed alerting her to a new message from Oliver? 

**Oliver: So, I heard a rumor that Thea's coming by tomorrow.**

She was not smiling. Or biting her lip. That wasn't happening. 

**Felicity: I heard something like that.**

Short. Simple. No need to feel heat in her cheeks. 

**Oliver: That's good.**

It was?

**Oliver: I mean, I'm sure you'd rather have her there.**

Would she? She looked down at her wrinkled jammies and scrunched her nose. 

**Felicity: Well I do really need a shower.**

Did she just tell Oliver Queen that she needed a shower? Did that just happen?

**Oliver: I thought I smelled something earlier.**

There went that lip biting thing again. Dammit. 

**Felicity: It was your breath bouncing off my forehead.**

That flutter was not because she was remembering that cheesy little forehead kiss. Nope. 

**Oliver: I leave you alone with Sin for one evening and suddenly you're comedian.**

Suddenly? _Suddenly_ she was offended. 

**Felicity: I'm hilarious.**

Everyone knew that.

**Oliver: Looking.**

Now that was just rude. 

**Felicity: Is there a point?**

She wasn't pouting. Why would she be pouting? 

**Oliver: Yeah, I just wanted to make sure you didn't need anything.**

Oh. 

**Oliver: Which you don't.**

True. 

**Oliver: Because Thea is coming by.**

Fact. 

**Oliver: So that's good.**

Already established. Was Oliver fishing for an invite? Not really his style. 

**Felicity: Oliver, you don't have to have a reason to come by.**

What was happening with her fingers. 

**Oliver: Come again?**

This is why the word 'ugh' was invented. 

**Felicity: You're right. We are friends. Friends don't need a reason to come by.**

That wasn't suggestive. Not that she wanted to be suggestive. Because she didn't. He didn't answer quickly enough for her stop her fingers from disobeying her again. 

**Felicity: I mean, if you want to. No pressure. You can come by when you leave the office.**

The words didn't stop. Lovely. 

**Felicity: Or not. It's totally fine. I mean, I know you're busy.**

Why was texting a thing? Why didn't her phone ask her if she was sure before it sent the message. She wasn't sure. She wanted to click no and stop typing. 

**Felicity: But I guess we could talk party stuff.**

Smooth, Smoak. 

**Felicity: Since you know, that's still a thing.**

She used to be such a smart cookie. 

**Oliver: I'll see you around 6.**

Oh, okay. 

**Felicity: Oh, okay.**

Felicity put her phone in airplane mode and buried her head in the couch cushions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Being related to Oliver gave Thea an insight that some people would kill for. 

Being his little sister gave her the power to manipulate that insight however she wanted. 

She had been the first one to notice that Oliver's intentions towards Felicity had changed. She could almost nail it down to the second that he had stopped seeing her as a target with 'a sweet ass', as he had so eloquently described her in high school. 

While Oliver had always been known for his playboy ways, Thea had always been known for her meddling. And up until very recently she had always kept her baser instincts away from the Oliver and Felicity situation. She knew what Oliver had put her best friend through during their high school years. She had seen the Oliver that Felicity thought was the 'only' Oliver. She knew that her brother had always stupidly hid the real him from most of the world. She knew that trying to convince her friend of his pure intentions would never fly without Oliver first dropping his act. 

So when Tommy and Laurel had first announced their engagement, Thea had seen the massive opportunity in front of her. Everyone around them was growing up, getting married, having babies and becoming the people that had all been working towards. And she knew then that if something didn't change, and soon, that her brother would blow any chance of happiness and a life beyond his public facade. 

So that was when she enlisted the help of her boyfriend, Roy, who had expressed more than once, his displeasure at how uptight her brother was. And he has in turn enlisted the help of his newest partner in crime, and Felicity's newest confidant, Sin, to help grease the wheels of progress. 

The first step had been to get Felicity to open up to an 'uninterested party' about how she really felt about Oliver. Sure, Felicity had told Thea over the years that Oliver wasn't her type and blah, blah, blah, but Thea knew that Felicity would never be totally honest with her about her feelings towards her older brother. 

Once they had that intel, Roy was put into action. Thea knew that his feelings for her best friend were more than he let on, and she knew that he had no idea what kind of impression he was leaving. Roy was more blunt than Thea, and did a phenomenal job in snapping the older Queen into action. 

Thea had stayed behind the scenes for the past few weeks, letting everything play out. She knew that her plan was working, considering that Oliver and Felicity were meeting one on one these days and Oliver still had his testicles. 

Hopefully. 

She was pleased with the progress, but she also knew that both her friend and her brother had a remarkable talent for talking themselves out of a victory. So the previous morning when she had gotten a frantic call from Felicity, she had seen the perfect next step. Oliver had always been a really shitty patient, but an excellent nurse. He had always really shined when taking care of someone. 

And if her talk with Felicity on the phone last night, and the state of her townhouse that morning was any indication, he had been successful.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Thea, I swear, it's like 100 times better than it was yesterday. I'm not kidding. You saw the pictures on Instagram. I had a freaking baseball attached to my ankle yesterday.” Felicity insisted to her best friend. 

Thea had arrived half an hour ago, took one look at her ankle and immediately insisted they drive to the hospital. 

“Lis, it's gross. That is not a healthy ankle. It's not supposed to be that size and/or color. I'm gonna be sick, I swear.” The younger girl insisted, and Felicity had to admit that her ankle was a funny color, but only because it was healing. 

She really had made a lot of progress in the last 36 hours. She was barely sporting a golf ball at this point. It was pretty great actually. Oliver really knew his stuff. 

“Yeah, well he's done a lot of dumb shit to hurt himself, so he should.” Her best friend muttered, her concentration focused on re-wrapping Felicity's ankle and Felicity blushed. She always hated it when she voiced her thoughts without her permission. 

“I actually wanted to talk to you about that.” Thea said, not meeting her eyes as she finished up. 

“About what?” Felicity asked, wiggling around to make herself comfortable. 

“Oliver.” Was all the other girl said and Felicity groaned. 

“Why does everyone suddenly feel the need to talk to me about Oliver all the time?” She asked the ceiling with a sigh. 

'I don't want to talk about him. I don't want to have this long in depth conversation. I just need you to understand one thing and then we can drop it.” The tone of Thea's voice made Felicity sober up. 

“Okay.” She responded simply, knowing this was important to her friend. 

“You can hurt him. Easily. You can break him. Keep that in mind.” 

The two women stared at each other in silence for a long moment. Felicity wasn't really sure what to say to that. She had never really thought about Oliver being the one to get hurt before. He had always seemed the type to do the hurting. Even over the last few days, weeks even, while they were starting this, whatever, all she had thought about was if she would get hurt. But what if what Sin had said was true? What if Thea knew? What is everyone knew about Oliver's feelings for her, but her? Did she really have the power to hurt him? 

“Okay.” She finally answered, her voice hoarse with emotion. 

Thea nodded once, her face serious and then she frowned. 

“Let's get you in a shower so I can burn these clothes. What the hell are you wearing, Smoaky? Have I taught you nothing?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

True to her word, Thea had helped Felicity get a shower, or at least up the stairs and into the shower, and hadn't brought Oliver up again. Felicity was beginning to feel like her old self again. She was able to get around much better now, with the help of her crutches and she even decided that she would wear real clothes around the house that day. 

She was making her way, slowly, around the living room, cleaning up when Oliver arrived just after 6 that evening. 

After Thea had left, just before lunch, she had been left alone to do a lot of thinking. Oliver had been in her life for so long, and it wasn't until the last week or so that she had really learned anything about him. It was an ongoing thing, and it was quite possible that they were completely incompatible. 

As far as she could tell, they didn't have anything in common. They were barely even friends. 

It would never work. 

She had decided that she would put an end to whatever it was that they were working towards. That it wasn't worth either one of them getting hurt, when he knocked. She hobbled over to the door, a crutch in one hand, an empty popcorn bag in the other and twisted open all of the locks and pulled the door open. 

She had told herself that she was sure about this. That they made no sense, that it was her responsibility to end this before he got ahead of himself. She had told herself that she would be the smart one, that she would stop this before it ruined the fragile balance that kept them operating in their circle. 

But then he was there. 

He was so tall, and handsome. He smelled so good and smiled so big. His hands landed on her shoulders as he leaned in for another forehead kiss and she let herself enjoy it for a second. His nearness was overwhelming and she let her eyes fall shut. 

She had told herself that she was right, that this would be too hard and it would end. She told herself that she would hurt him. 

But instead she watched as he moved past her, unbuttoning his suit jacket, pulling it off and tossing it over the back of her couch as he made himself comfortable in her space. He was chatting casually, talking about his day, and she was watching him move about the room, the sight of him in suspenders making her fingers itch. 

They would only hurt each other. 

Thea was right. She could break him. But he could just as easily break her. 

He had finally taken notice that she hadn't spoken since he'd arrived and walked towards her, concerned. He put a hand on her elbow, cupping her skin and she felt it coming. 

It was like word vomit. 

“Felicity? Are you okay?” He asked, and his voice was so soft. It was always so soft. No, not always. 

Why had she never noticed before that he had a special tone for her? He never talked to Sara like that. He never even spoke to Thea like that. When did that happen? And why had she never noticed?

She opened her mouth, wanting to answer his question, but the word vomit was there and once she opened her mouth there was no stopping it. 

“Would you like to have dinner with me?” She asked his chest. Why was he so damn tall? Why was it easier to talk to his tie? Why did she open her mouth?

“I thought that's why I came over? You want take out again?” He asked, confused and she finally looked up.

“I-I mean, would you like to go out to dinner with me? Oliver.” She didn't know why she felt the need to say his name. He knew his name. But she just needed to say it. For this to be real.

“Oh, you want to go out somewhere? That makes sense, you've been laid up for a few days. Have anywhere in mind?” He asked, walking away from her to grab his jacket off of the couch. 

She didn't know how to respond. She could still back out, she could still pretend that this was just them, trying to be friends. There was still time to fix it. 

“No. Oliver, I mean-” She stopped and took a breath. He turned back to look at her, pulling his jacket on and he looked confused. 

“I meant, would you like to go to dinner. With me. Out. To dinner.” She said pointedly, standing straight, the crutch forgotten behind her. 

Oliver stood frozen, his arms half way in the jacket. “I-I'm sorry. Are you, are you asking me on a date?” He asked, eyes wide.

Felicity nodded, biting her lip. “That was the intention. The implication with dinner being that we would-.” She started, her nerve vacating the premises and she pinched her lips together. 

Oliver smiled softly, finally slipping the jacket on his arms and stood straight. He looked a little taken aback still, but he walked towards her, his head ducked. “Yeah. Yes. Okay, lets go to dinner.” He said to her feet and she felt her heart clench.

She really could break this man. 

She just really hoped she knew what the fuck she was doing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know you are all ready for the date, and I had really intended to drag this on for a while longer, but even I was getting tired of that.


	12. Date Dress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first part of the date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my second update tonight, so make sure you've read Chapter 11 first or else you will be confused.

Felicity Smoak had asked him on a date. 

Like a real date. 

In public. 

That was just...neat. 

It was a weird feeling, knowing that she was upstairs right now, getting dressed to go out to dinner with him. 

He had asked her out countless times in the last decade. And he had gone into this new approach with this as the end game. 

They were end game. 

He knew that. 

But knowing it, and getting it were two totally different things. 

Shortly after he had agreed to go out that night, she had awkwardly asked for his assistance in getting upstairs so that she could change. He had tried to insist that her t-shirt and jeans was perfect. The look that she shot him reminded him that she was his little sister's best friend, and he had just laughed while she leaned on his shoulder as he guided her up the steps. 

As soon as she had made it the top of the stairs, she has shooed him away and he had called in one of his favors, to get them a table for Table Salt at 8:30. It was last minute, yes, and Table Salt was one of the hottest and most expensive restaurants in Starling, but this was important. 

He had to pull put all the stops for this. And even if he was a bit rusty, he still remembered the basics of wooing. 

Fancy restaurant, fancy suit, candles, flowers, the works. 

Surprisingly, it only took about half an hour for Felicity to call down the stairs that she was ready. He quickly made his way up, stopping a few steps from the top when he saw her. She looked annoyed. 

Uh-oh. 

She was beautiful, of course, she always was. She had gone for a casual look, a short, flowy white sundress and her hair was down, falling over her shoulder in waves. Her makeup was light and she was wearing flip flops. His mouth went dry at the sight of her, she made a casual sundress look like a million dollars. 

But he could tell that something was bugging her and that didn't bode well. 

“Felicity?” He asked, and he knew he sounded panicked. He felt panicked. What if she had changed her mind? 

“Do you know that I don't own a single pair of sensible shoes?” She asked, a hand on her hip as she looked down on him. 

“Um.” He started, because he wasn't really sure what to say to that. 

“My shoes. They are all stupid. And tall, why the hell do I own so many high heels? I own exactly one pair of flats, one! And they have panda faces on them. I'm 12.” She huffed, and Oliver smiled. 

“I'm afraid I didn't follow you around that bend.” He told her kindly, walking up the final steps to stand beside her. 

“I can't wear any of my date dresses. They all require non panda shoes. And even though my ankle is a million times better, it's still too sore and too large to work in my Prada pumps.” She explained, looking thoroughly frustrated and Oliver couldn't help but grin. 

“This isn't a 'date' dress?” He asked, chuckling at her. 

“No, Oliver, this is a 'shopping with Sara dress'. You would think after growing up with Thea that you would understand the difference.” Shes snorted, motioning for him to help her start down the stairs. 

“My apologies. You just look so damn cute that I can't tell the difference.” He smirked and she rolled her eyes at him. 

“That is the difference, Oliver. In this dress I look cute. In my date dress? Forget about it. You would be speechless.” She teased, her humor returning. 

“Well, you must always wear your date dresses then, because I'm always speechless when I see you.” He said sincerely and suddenly she was bubbling with laughter, barely making it the final few steps. 

“Oh God, it is way too early in the night for that kind of talk. Pace yourself, Queen.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Table Salt was crowded. That wasn't a surprise, it usually was. And when they had pulled up out front of the valet, Felicity had made a face. He had asked her what was wrong, but she had just shrugged and mumbled something about 'date dress' and had accepted his help in getting out of the car. 

She had rejected his advice to bring the crutches with her, choosing instead to use his shoulder. He had to admit that he didn't hate that plan. 

They had been seated quickly, in his standard table, in the back away from the windows to avoid prying eyes. Once the waiter had left them alone, it seemed that she had been overtaken by nerves. Whatever had prompted her to invite him out tonight had long sense passed and she just sat across from him, uncomfortably sipping her water. 

As a by product he became nervous as well. He had never been nervous on a date before, and was suddenly unsure of what to do with his hands. So he started to play with the salad fork, like he had as a small child. 

The silence stretched and the longer it went without them making eye contact or speaking, the worse it became. Finally, after the third time the waiter stopped by to ask if they were ready to order, Felicity snapped. 

“Ugh, God. Why are we so nervous? Should we be this nervous? I mean, I've known you for so long.” She blurted out, after waving the waiter off and he cracked a smile despite himself. 

“I don't know, really. That's a new thing for me. I don't even know if nervous is the right word. ” He admitted, setting the fork down, and laying his hand on the table. 

She sighed, her eyes roaming around the room. 

“Well, I'm nervous. I'm on a date with Ollie Queen. That's nerve-wracking,” She said casually, still not looking at him and he frowned. 

“Thanks.” He said, feeling a little sore. 

She met his eyes quickly, sensing the hurt in his tone and groaned. 

“No- That's not what I mean. I'm sorry, I'm just blah. It's just... first date. Awkward.” She said with a sigh, looking at her lap. 

He swallowed the smile that threatened to erupt on his face. 

“First date?” He questioned. 

She looked back up quickly, her hands still in her lap. 

“What?” She asked, confused. 

“You said first date, that would imply that there would be future dates, of which this would be the first.” Oliver explained, not fighting the smile anymore. 

She blushed, biting at her bottom lip. 

“Um, I don't know. Maybe? Can we just get through this one?” She requested with a shrug and he nodded, the smile now gone. 

“Get through? You know how to make a guy feel special.” He huffed, looking around the restaurant to avoid her eyes. 

“Ugh, no. That's not what I meant. I'm not saying anything right.” She complained. “This is just so odd. I mean, we've been in each other's lives for over 10 years. This isn't like a normal date. I mean, I've seen you shirtless! Multiple times. You're shirtless a lot, did you know that about yourself?” She asked, her original point completely forgotten.

Oliver fought a smile, wanting to let her finish. 

She sighed, getting herself back on track and looked at him. 

“I'm sorry, this is just all very surreal to me. I mean, who would've thought, back when I was a freshman and we first met that we would be here?” She asked, looking a little overwhelmed. 

“Me.” He answered her simply. She looked shocked. 

“What? You're kidding, right? I mean, God do you remember when we met? I was such a nerd. And not in the good way either. I think I was chewing on a pen, for god-sakes.” She told him, disgusted with her younger self, and her hand went to cover her eyes. 

He smiled, remembering the moment they met with a different feeling than her. 

“It was red.” He offered softly, his eyebrows arching.

“I'm sorry?” She asked, her hand still on her face. 

“You were chewing on a pen. And it was red.” He explained, remembering the sight fondly. Just because he hadn't been aware of his attraction to her at the time, it doesn't mean that he had forgotten it for a second. 

She stayed frozen, taking him in wordlessly. The air was different now, the silence not as uncomfortable. Finally after observing him for a few long moments she sighed, breaking the eye contact and looked down at her hands. 

“Look, Oliver. I-I wanted to ask you out. I wanted to see what this was. I know it's probably stupid and that we are both going to get hurt, but I just had to try.” She told him honestly, and he felt his breath catch. 

“Why do you think we're just going to get hurt?” He asked before he could stop himself. 

“I don't know you-” She started and he wanted to interrupt so she spoke faster, “I'm getting there, slowly. But you don't know me either, Oliver. I know.” She stopped and looked down before taking a deep breath. “I know you think you have feelings for me, and you probably do. But what happens when we actually get to know each other? And what happens when we realize that we just don't mesh?” She asked, her voice sad. 

This was all falling apart around him and he could only think of one way to keep this from being another one of his many regrets. 

He broke eye contact and looked around. Clearing his throat he asked, “Hey, do you, uh, do you wanna get out of here?”

She blinked, looking taken aback and even more sad. “Oliver, I'm sorry, I didn't mean-” She started and he waved his hand to the waiter, asking for their check and turned to her to reassure her. 

“No, it's fine, I just don't really think this place is such a good idea anymore. I wanna take you somewhere else.” He explained, quickly putting his card in the folder for the waiter. 

“Somewhere else?” She asked him quietly and he could tell she was worried that she had upset him. 

“Look, this place is stuffy and you're obviously uncomfortable, and to be honest I don't really like it here either. And I think it's beyond time for us to talk.” He said as he signed the receipt, getting up to pull her chair out and help her from her seat. 

“Talk?” She asked, leaning into him. 

“Yes. You are under the very mistaken assumption that I don't know you well enough to love you. I intend to show you how wrong you are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 13 will be posted immediately after this, because I couldn't leave the date unfinished and I didn't like it as one full chapter.


	13. Vanilla Nutella is Worth It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second half of the date.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the 3rd chapter that I've posted tonight, please make sure that you've real the previous two or else you will be lost.

_“You are under the very mistaken assumption that I don't know you well enough to love you. I intend to show you how wrong you are.”_

Felicity had known the night had taken a bad turn when she had realized that she couldn't wear the gold dress. 

That was her favorite first date dress.

Her legs and ass looked amazing in that dress, she knew it and she rocked it. 

And her damn ankle prevented her from wearing the perfect heels for that dress. So she had decided to wear the red dress, thinking she could make it work with a small heel. 

Nope. 

So she had to settle for a super casual look, which was bad enough for this situation. She had always taken pride in how she looked in formal wear. She could seriously take on anything in the right dress and shoes. So it was bad enough that she had to wear flip flops and a sundress, but then Oliver had taken her to the most exclusive restaurant in town. She was positive the only reason they allowed her inside dressed that way was because of who she was with. 

She was also positive that this was Oliver's go-to restaurant for his 'dates'. She wasn't above scanning the tabloid headlines in the grocery store, after all. 

So all in all, she was pretty damn uncomfortable, and it showed. The very idea of eating made her queasy, and she could only hold off the waiter for so long. But eventually her and Oliver had confronted the elephant in the room, and when he had insisted that they leave, she had worried that she had blown it. 

Oliver Queen didn't like complicated when it came to 'his girls' and she was always a little too complicated. But then he had surprised her, whisking her from the restaurant with words that hadn't stopped echoing in her head for the last half hour. 

“You are under the very mistaken assumption that I don't know you well enough to love you. I intend to show you how wrong you are.”

_“Love you”_

_“Love”_

Oliver Queen had just told her he loved her. Well, not in so many words, but the implication was there and she had no idea how that made her feel.

Sin had said it. But what the hell did she know? Apparently a lot. 

And even Thea had implied that Oliver was vulnerable when it came to her.

And she had started to accept the fact that he had feelings for her beyond her bra size, but knowing it and knowing it was two entirely different things. 

And now he had said it. They were on a date that wasn't going great, she told him that they wouldn't work and then he had ended the date? Maybe? And then told her that he loved her, in a round about way. 

And they had long since passed the turn for her townhouse so she genuinely had no clue what was happening, and her mind was racing to much to ask any questions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Almost an hour after they had left the restaurant, the car finally slowed and turned into the parking lot of a small strip mall. They were still in Starling, this Felicity knew, but she had never been to this part of the city before. 

Oliver turned to her with a smile before he opened his door to get out, and she followed his lead. He came around the side of the car to meet her, reaching for her hand to let her support herself on him and then turned to walk towards the only shop opened.

Felicity looked around in confusion, and the smiled when she read the writing on the window. 

It was an ice cream shop. 

So the date wasn't over after all, he really had just wanted to take her somewhere else.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After they ordered their waffle cones, her mint chip and him vanilla nutella. and picked a booth in the back they settled in across from each other and Felicity finally allowed herself to relax. This was much more her scene.

That sat in comfortable silence for a few moments, and Felicity could tell that he was trying to get a read on her mood after his declaration at the restaurant. So she smiled at him, humming as she happily worked on her ice-cream, and he chuckled. 

“I get why you think I don't know very much about you.” He started, and she let her smile soften, hoping to encourage him. “I've never really been all that forthcoming with my feelings. I didn't have a normal childhood, but you know that.” He offered with a shrug and she nodded, staying quiet. 

“It never occurred to me that my usual methods of getting what I wanted wouldn't always work. You were always different though. The second I met you I knew that you were different. You didn't care that I was 'Ollie Queen'. You didn't care who I was, you only cared if I held you back in class.” He said with a laugh and she flushed. 

“You were the first person that I ever saw as a person. Everyone else was a means to an end. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to say that my intentions with you were always pure. They weren't. At first, I just thought that I was drawn to you because you were a challenge. Which you are, but not the way I thought at the time. As odd as it may sound, I am so happy that you never gave in to any of my advances back then. Because I wouldn't have appreciated it. And I would have ruined any chance of a future.” He admitted, giving her a self deprecating grin and her chest felt warm. 

“Oliver.” She started, not knowing what to say but wanting to say something. 

“And I don't want you to think that I feel this way about you because you're this unattainable thing, this person that I was never able to have. That's not it.” He continued like she hadn't spoken and she felt a prick behind her eyes, because he had just given words to the fear that she hadn't wanted to voice. 

“I know you, Felicity. I know you and that's why I love you.” The determination in his voice nearly broke her. 

“Y-you think you do. You think you know me, Oliver. But how could you?” She asked, forcing herself to stop before she finished with 'how could you know me and still love me'? Because that was her fear, really. That he loved her because he believed her to be remarkable, and if he got to know her, he would discover that she wasn't really. He would discover that she was just plain old Felicity. 

“You're not a natural blonde.” He said, and she had to smile. 

“Everyone knows that Oliver.” She told him, not unkindly. 

“Yeah, that's true. But not everyone knows it's because of your Father.” 

She gasped. “Wh-how, what are you talking about?” She asked him wildly. 

“You look just like him. That's what everyone told you when you were little. And that always made you happy because you idolized him. He's the one that taught you how to rebuild a computer. But then when he left you never wanted to be compared to him again, so you dyed your hair so that everyone would think that you looked like Donna. The one that stayed.” 

Felicity knew that her eyes betrayed her. They always had. She refused to blink, not wanting the tears to fall and give Oliver the wrong impression. 

“My mom?” She asked him. 

He just shook his head, shrugging. “She told me a little bit about him. I just made the connection. She liked the comparison to, you know. She is so proud of you, and loves it when people tell her that you got your beauty from her.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Why on earth did you drive me to the other side of town for ice cream?” She asked, looking up at the sky. They had long since finished their ice cream, and the shop had been closed for over an hour, so they were now sitting on the truck of his car, leaning against the back window. 

“Whenever Tommy and I would skip class we would come here, it was far enough away that we wouldn't run into our parents, but close enough that we could make it back before anyone noticed we were gone. It's always a good place to feel like you're getting away.” He explained to the sky, his hand lightly brushing up and down her forearm. “Plus, they have vanilla nutella ice cream. That's enough reason in my opinion.”

She couldn't argue with that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So, where do we stand on the whole first date thing?” Oliver asked over an hour later, when the chill in the air forced them back into his car and they were well on their way back to her townhouse. 

They had spent the rest of the evening avoiding anything to heavy. They mostly kept their talk to their friends and work, keeping things simple, with the occasional personal exchanges. It had almost made her forget what the night was about. 

Felicity turned tired eyes to him, leaning her head back against the window. “First date thing?” She asked on a yawn.

He smiled, his eyes focused on the road ahead. “Yeah, you know, is this a 'first date' as in the first of many? Or is it just a date that happened and we move on?” He asked, his features purposely casual as he watched the road.

_“I know you and that's why I love you.”_

He loved her.

She looked him over, the glow of the dash making it easy to make out his cheekbones, the curve of his lips. 

He loved her. 

This could be a mistake. This could end in the worst way. But as he shifted into park in front of her home, turning the ignition off and turned in his seat to face her, she had a thought. 

What if it didn't end badly?

What if it didn't end at all?

Not everything ended. 

She smiled at him, and she knew she looked as tired as she felt, and that her smile was probably silly, but she didn't care.

“I think this was a great first date.” She answered, a giggle escaping her as he let out a relieved huff of air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had an extreme moment of panic while writing this chapter, and accidentally unplugged my computer and lost the last section. So the rewrite is not what I intended but was as close as I could get it. 
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed, and next chapter we get to see how these crazy kids will approach being together with the wedding getting closer.


	14. Put a Pin In It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So does a date mean they're dating?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The response to this story always blows me away. Thank you so much for all of your input, it really means so much to me.
> 
> Writing hasn't been that easy for me lately, so much real life stuff going on, but I will be wrapping this story up very soon. I anticipate 2-3 more chapters.

Being with Oliver Queen was a lot different than Felicity had ever expected.

Especially since, in her mind she still referred to him as 'Oliver Queen' more often than not. 

And then there was the little details, like how she wasn't even entirely sure they are, you know, together. 

The night of their date he had walked her to her front door, and after a little prodding she agreed to let him help her up her stairs so that she could sleep in her bed for a change. She half expected him to try something once they were in her bedroom. But instead he had just kissed her forehead again, and then because it didn't look like he could help himself, he kissed her cheek as well. 

She had lain in bed that night with her head spinning. 

Yes, she had implied that they would have future dates. But did that mean they were dating? Were they together? What was going to happen when she woke up? 

The answer to the first questions still hadn't been answered, but when she had woken up the following morning it had been to a text from the man that had haunted her dreams. 

It had started out as just a good morning greeting, but they had spent the rest of the day texting back and forth. Nothing heavy, nothing of any substance at all really. She had lain in bed for hours, watching Netflix with her foot elevated and giggled whenever the CEO of the city's biggest company sent her an emoji. They never brought up the date, or any future dates, which gave her both relief and worry at the same time. 

Things continued that way as the wedding drew closer and while they added nightly phone calls to their communication, they still never discussed their relationship. They just slipped into a very comfortable pattern. She knew every morning that she would wake up to a message from him, as he always woke up earlier than her because he was a masochistic that liked to workout before the sun came up. 

The Monday after their date, when she finally headed back into work, with her panda flats and crutches, he texted her to find out her favorite coffee. That day and every one after, he would have someone deliver it straight to her desk at 10:45 on the dot. She felt a little flutter when she realized that he picked that time because she had once jokingly told him that was about the time that her first 3 cups would start to wear off. 

Starting on that Tuesday they had run into each other by the food trucks that operated in between their two buildings, and had since started meeting by the fountains for lunch everyday, both short on time and both stealing bites from their others choices of the day. Felicity always thought it was really cute that Oliver avoided the trucks that served food with nuts. 

She still had so many questions about Oliver, and about what he wanted from her. But she found herself less concerned with when and how she would get the answers, because she had no doubt that when they time was right, that she would get them. 

Other people weren't as convinced. 

“So, you're dating?” Sin asked her for the fourth time that week. 

Felicity smiled, biting the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing as she held up a black lace thong, giving the price tag the side-eye. So much money for so little fabric. Sigh.

“Dating is such a strong word.” She answered finally, her tone purposely casual. 

Sin snorted, looking extremely out of place in the lingerie store.

“Not really. It's a pretty tame word.” She insisted, rolling her eyes when she looked to her right to see that she was eye level with a mannequins nipples. 

Felicity laughed at her tiny friend and continued to dig through the tabel of lace under garments. 

“Well, in this situation it's pretty loaded.” She hedged, casual tossing a pair of emerald green panties into her bag, hoping that Sin had never realized that it was Oliver's favorite color. 

Sin crossed her arms, making herself even smaller and rolled her eyes for the tenth time that day. Felicity briefly wondered if it were possible to injure one's self from doing that too often. 

“So, you went on a date. He told you he loves you. You get this stupid look on your face when I say his name. And we are currently spending happy hour shopping for see through black panties. What word isn't too strong to describe what is happening between you and the broody one?” The leather ball of awkward asked her with a scoff and Felicity smirked.

“The broody one? I like that, can I use that sometime?” She asked, only semi-serious.

“I'm pretty sure he would let you 'use' him anytime. And you're avoiding the question.” Sin quipped, avoiding looking at the garter belt in Felicity's hand.

“Look, I would love to put a label on it. Seriously, you know me and my label maker, we are best buds. But I can't right now. We had a date, and we've talked a lot since then. But that's pretty much it, it's all very casual.” She said with a sigh, adding the garter belt to her bag and then holding up the matching panties. 

“There is literally nothing 'casual' about the way your ass is going to look in those.” 

Felicity arched a brow and tilted her head at her friend as she added them to her bag.

“Are you fishing for a raise?” She asked, squinting her eyes. 

“Felicity.” Sin said pointedly, no longer joking. 

“Okay, if you must know, I've been so busy since getting back to the office and he's got this big merger that he's pushing to close before the wedding. And we do still have the wedding, which is in less than a week, plus all of the last minute details for the surprise party for tomorrow night. We both just decided to put a pin in it until after the wedding.” She was proud of herself, this all sounded logical, like it was something that two adults had discussed. Not something she had just been convincing herself of every night. 

“A pin? Sounds kinky.” Sin deadpanned and Felicity bit her lip. 

Leaving her friend and heading to the registers she continued. “Laurel and Tommy have a lot on their plates right now. So does everyone else, we just don't want to pile it on. We care about each other, we plan to pursue something and we will. But for right now? We just need to focus on not taking any attention away from the wedding. Afterward we're all for it. We need to figure this out for ourselves first. No need to involve everyone else until there is something to involve them in.” She said, her voice never wavering even though her spirit did. 

Sin sighed, saddling up to her at the checkout counter, her expression concerned. 

“If you say so. I'll keep mum about it. But don't wait too long and talk yourself out of it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up, it's time to party. Can Oliver and Felicity not make googly eyes at each other for a whole night? Doubt it.


	15. How Do I Feel?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The party. Oliver and Felicity aren't as inconspicuous as they think. But what will this attention do to the new couple?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I took a very unexpected break from writing for a while. I am very sorry that I have left you all hanging for so long, but I've had a lot going on. One good thing did happen though, and I did get to meet Mr. Amell himself. Let me tell you, he is just freaking ridiculous in person. 
> 
> Anyways, I am very sorry for the delay, hope you enjoy. And as always, I crave feedback. (Speaking of, I will be responding to anything in my inbox as soon as this is posted)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How does one act when at a party surrounded by the very best of their friends and the person they are kind of dating?

Like a moron, that's how. 

Or at least, that's what Felicity had been experiencing so far. 

Her and Oliver were both blowing this 'put a pin in it' thing in a major way. 

The party itself had come together rather nicely. The rooftop BBQ was a huge hit among their friends. The weather was amazing for this time of year, no humidity, no chill in the air and since they were on top of one of the tallest buildings on the block they had a nice calm breeze that barely flickered the flames of the candles on each table. 

Everyone was having an amazing time, little groups cluttered all around the open space, conversation flowing easily and a few couple were even swaying along to the music (no DJ, just Felicity's tablet, blue-tooth speakers and her handy dandy pre-wedding playlist). Everyone was smiling and it seemed as though the party was accomplishing exactly what it was meant to, giving everyone a stress free night together before the big event. 

Especially the bride and groom to be. 

It hadn't been super easy to lure Laurel and Tommy out of the cocoon they had created for themselves. But between Felicity texting Laurel about a bridesmaid dress emergency, and Oliver convincing Tommy that he was freaking out over his best man's toast, they had managed to get the two of them on the roof without any serious injury. 

But despite the success of the evening so far, Oliver and Felicity were both on edge, and it was showing. 

They had been doing so well since their date. They saw and spoke to each other on a daily, sometimes hourly bases, but for some reason being together with all of their closest friends made them awkward together. 

They had spent a huge part of their lives in situations like this, at parties together and it had never been an issue before. But this was different. Now Felicity knew what it felt like to have his lips on her skin, and Oliver had felt the dip in his stomach when her smile was just for him.

And no one knew. 

That afternoon, when they were putting the final touches on the decorations and following up with all the guests, they had agreed officially that telling anyone about their 'whatever' wasn't a good idea until after Laurel and Tommy returned from their honeymoon. Neither one of them wanted to take any attention away from the wedding. And most of all, they didn't want to deal with all the questions that they didn't know how to answer. And they had both been happy with that decision at the time. But then the party started and they kept being thrown together, and they were having an increasingly hard time trying to hide that anything had changed. 

Oliver had never ducked his head so much in his life. His neck was killing him and Felicity was pretty sure that her face hadn't been this red since the summer she fell face first in a patch of poison ivy. They were acting like awkward teenagers and everyone was starting to notice. 

Thea wasn't helping. 

Oliver duck his head and grinned at the ground for the thirtieth time that hour when Thea yelled at him to come and join her and Felicity on the 'dance floor' and show off his moves. Normally his sister being obnoxious wouldn't cause this reaction from him, but the way Felicity slapped her friend's shoulder and buried her head into Sara's back made his chest clench. 

He just shook his head, waving Thea off, the three beers he had been nursing all night was nowhere near enough to get him on the dance floor. He sighed when Tommy slid up behind him, throwing his arm over his shoulder and hip checking him. 

“Ollie, my boy, you are sunk.” Tommy said cheerfully, taking a swig of his beer with a smile. 

Oliver chose to not comment. This wasn't the first time Tommy had said those exact words to him, in fact, it had become a tradition. Every time they had gatherings and Oliver was caught staring at Felicity, Tommy would call him out this same way. But this was the first time that it left him with a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach instead of leaving him feeling empty. 

“So, Mr. Lance, “He started with a smirk “where is the better half?” He asked his friend, changing the subject.

“Off somewhere being beautiful, I'm sure. So, are we going to talk about this?” He asked, getting back on topic quickly, with a wave to the dance floor where Felicity was in the center of a Thea/Sara sandwich and laughing with her head thrown back. 

“About how my sister and ex are currently violating your favorite blonde? I don't think that's appropriate talk for a man just days before his wedding.” Oliver asked, taking the shove Tommy gave him with a chuckle.

“About how for the first time in your short, sad life, the elusive Ms.Smoak is actually acknowledging your existence, and it's not because you snapped her bra.” Tommy followed behind Oliver as he walked away at the mention of Felicity. 

“I did that one time, Tommy and I was drunk.” He groaned, tossing his now empty bottle into the recycling. 

“Oliver.”

“Thomas.”

“Look, I get it. You've been after this girl since your one sober moment senior year. And a few drunken ones before that. You have a lot riding on whatever it is that's going on with the looks you've been tossing at each other all night. I just need to say that I'm happy for you, man.” He said, his grip on Oliver's shoulder tightening. Then he smirked, “And I really need you to not fuck this up, because you're bigger than me and I would hate to have to attempt to kick your ass. It'll really bruise my ego and my peach like skin.” Tommy teased, using his grip on Oliver's shoulder to jostle him with a chuckle and Oliver smiled. 

“And if I'm not to one to do the hurting?” He asked, forcing his smile to stay light. 

Tommy laughed, “Oh, I'll get Laurel to kick Smoak's ass. I'm not man enough for that.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_“So, how long has this being going on?”_

Felicity loved Thea like a sister, and Sara too. They were her best friends and she would do pretty much anything for them.

_“Are you guys dating?”_

But she was about 4.5 seconds from throwing both of the off of the roof, and she didn't think she would feel the least bit guilty. 

_“Is he your boyfriend?”_

Laurel would be pissed about the wedding pictures, but Felicity could handle that. 

_“Is it serious?”_

She knew that she and Oliver were doing a really awful job of playing off their...whatever it was they were doing, and according to Sara, they might as well be wearing neon signs. The two women had been on her case about Oliver for the last half an hour, ever since they had wrestled her onto the makeshift dance floor and Felicity was nearly ready to scream. 

_“How do you feel about him?”_

The teasing she could handle, she was a big girl, and after years of being friends with these girls she had developed very tough skin. The teasing was okay, but the questions? Not so much. That was the main reason that she had been so willing to keep this quiet for the next few weeks, because she honestly had no answers for the questions her friends were asking. 

_“How does he feel about you?”_

The same questions that she was asking herself.

_“How do you feel?”_

The same questions that she couldn't answer. 

_“Do you like him? Or love him?”_

Shouldn't she know? She knew what he had said on their date. He loves her. Had for sometime. But she didn't love him. Right? She couldn't. She didn't even like him just a few weeks ago. There was still so much about him that she didn't know. 

_“Felicity?”_

She snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of Thea's voice. She looked around, Sara was now joined on the floor by Nyssa and the couple was slow dancing to some Ed Sheeran song and Thea was looking at her, concerned. That was when Felicity realized that she had zoned out, her heart beating heavy in her chest. 

“Yeah?” She asked her friend, her heart rate returning to normal. 

“You okay?” The younger girl asked, her brow furrowed. 

“You bet.” She answered, smiling at her best friend.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night, Felicity was more grateful than ever that she had decided to shut the office down for the last few days surrounding the wedding. 

Being in the bridal party gave her a lot of responsibility, and she took that seriously. But tonight, she wasn't really worried about her duties to Laurel. Tonight she was worried about chugging down as much half melted mint chip ice cream as possible while binge watching Friends in bed. 

She had always been a stress eater. 

_“How do you feel?”_

How did she feel? Shouldn't she know the answer to that? Shouldn't she be able to look at Oliver and instantly know, 'yes I love this man'. Or 'no, he's like a friend's brother to me'.

Because, lets face it, with arms like that she would never feel brotherly feelings for him. 

He knew how he felt for her. Or at least, he acted like he did. 

He loved her. 

And all that she knew was that whenever she thought about his 'confession' her breath hitched a little without her permission. 

She knew that she was attracted to him. She was a red blooded female after all. With those muscles and cheekbones and dimples and, ugh. Just everything. He was so beautiful that it sometimes hurt to look at him. 

But really, it was his eyes that got to her the most. Once she had allowed herself to really look at them, she had been mesmerized. Oliver Queen had never really been known for being overly expressive. He kept almost all of his emotions to himself, unless it came to his sister. And until she had allowed herself to looking in his eyes, Felicity had spent their entire association thinking that he wasn't capable of feelings. 

But his eyes. His eyes said it all. He could school his face to reveal nothing, but his eyes were always so damned intense. She had never understood the phrase 'smiled with their eyes' until she started getting to know Oliver. 

Who gave him eyes like that?

His eyes were enough to make her almost forget that until very recently, that she held nothing for him but casual disinterest and mild indifference. 

Almost. 

What if this was just physical?

What if she was blinded by the way he loomed over her, while doing everything in his power to not try to overwhelm her with his size. 

What if he really was just Ollie Queen? What if that was all he would ever be?

Could she really risk getting serious with someone that would just revert back to her friend's pervy brother. 

What if she was just making excuses to not get hurt. 

What if she just stopped living in her head and actually gave this a shot?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oliver knew something had been bothering Felicity when they had all left the party earlier that night. 

She had put on a good show for everyone, helping to clean up and seeing the last of the guests out. But he had been able to tell when her shy and flirty glances turned into awkward and uncomfortable. She had made sure to head out with Sara, not even waiting to say goodnight to Thea, who was saying her last goodbyes to the couple of the night. 

He had tried to not let it get to him. He knew that the party had been a hit, but that more than a few of their friends had picked up on the change between the two of them. He had been mildly uncomfortable with the teasing, but it seemed to have really gotten to Felicity and he couldn't help but feel nervous over her reaction. 

Was everyone 'knowing' about them making her second guess her decision to give him a chance?

He had been laying in bed for a few hours, playing the night over and over in his mind, wondering when her demeanor had changed. 

When his phone buzzed he glanced at his bedside clock. 

2:27am.

He rubbed his tired eyes and swiped at his lock screen to read his new message. 

**Felicity: We're starting at the 15th date.**

Wait, what? They had only been on one date. Did she want a 15th date? 

**Oliver: What am I missing?**

**Felicity: We're like Ross and Rachel. We're starting at the 15th date. That is already a very relationshippy place. Phoebe said so.**

**Oliver: Are you drunk?**

**Felicity: Sugar high at best. You're not listening to me. We aren't just dating Oliver. We have a lot of people in our lives that would be upset if we do this and it blows up in our face.**

**Felicity: I don't want everyone to go skiing without me!**

**Oliver: Whose going skiing? What is happening?**

**Felicity: Ross and Rachel dated, and when they broke up it made Chandler start smoking and they all went skiing without Ross and it was just a really crappy season after that. Are you ready for that Oliver? I don't know if I'm ready for that.**

**Oliver: Are you seriously comparing us to a Friends episode? Is that what's happening right now? At 2am?**

**Felicity: Season. It was a season long thing. That is a long time. If we do this and we break up then it will just be bad. Monica and Rachel survived it, but I don't know if Thea would be okay with me and her brother having a bad breakup.**

**Oliver: I'm going to ask you something. And I need you to answer me honestly. No Friends reference please.**

**Felicity: Okay.**

**Oliver: Have you changed your mind? Do you not want to do this anymore?**

**Felicity: I don't know.**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Oliver didn't answer her, she was sure that she had pushed him too far. 

That was it. He had finally decided that she wasn't worth it. 

That made sense. He had spent the last 10 years trying to get her, and the second he had her, and saw how much work she was he changed his mind. 

That fit her narrative of how she had seen this going very well. 

She knew that she was being neurotic. But knowing that you're being irrational doesn't mean that you can stop. 

Just as she was resigning herself to the fact that she had blown it before it had actually had a chance to be anything, she heard a knock on her front door. 

3:17am. 

Option one was a very proper serial killer. 

Option two was a very annoyed Oliver Queen.

Felicity climbed out of bed and made her way downstairs slowly, both because of nerves and because he ankle still killed at night. 

She arrived at the front door, peeked out the peep hole and sighed. 

Option two it is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oliver hadn't shown up unannounced at a girls apartment in the middle of the night since college. It used to be his 'move'. It had gotten him laid plenty of times. 

This wasn't going to be one of those times. 

The second Felicity had told him that she didn't know if she wanted to continue their 'relationship' he had panicked. When it was just the two of them he could tell that she was starting to feel something real for him. She often tried to act unaffected by him, but he had been studying her for years (in a totally none creepy way) and knew her tells as well as he knew his own. 

But after talking with Thea and Sara, for some reason, Felicity had started to have doubts. And he knew that if he left her alone with those doubts for too long, that she would talk herself giving this a real shot. 

So without a second thought he had slipped on his shoes and driven to her house in his pjs. Not the smoothest he had ever been in his life, but he knew that being smooth wouldn't fix this. 

He waited patiently at her door, knowing that she was standing on the other side, debating on letting him in. Whatever internal dialogue that she was having, it came out in his favor, because after several moments he heard the deadbolt switch open. 

He hadn't known what he was going to say, what his plan was. All he had known the whole way over here was that he had to see her, had to convince her that she wasn't wrong to try this. But the second she opened the door, her hair in a messy bun, her clothes all wrinkled from tossing and turning he knew why he had driven to her house at 3 in the morning. 

If he had any hope of making this thing between them work, he had to show her that there was no one else in the world for her but him. 

Her front door was opened all the way and she stood there, looking vulnerable before him, her eyes wide, the only light coming in from the porch and he went for it. 

The second his lips touched hers it was like coming home. His hands automatically came up to cup the sides of her face, cradling her jaw to tilt her head back so that he could deepen the kiss. Her lips parted on a gasp, whether in surprise or pleasure he didn't know, but he took full advantage of it. He slipped his tongue past her lips, seeking hers and felt his nerves start to vibrate when she let out a soft moan in the back of her throat as their tongues met. 

By the time they parted, his whole body was on fire. He had spent years imagining what it would be like to kiss her and even in the most vivid of daydreams, his fantasies had never come close to reality. He slowly opened his eyes, not pulling away and his hands still lightly cupped her cheeks. She was breathing heavily, her eyes closed.

He patiently waited for her eyes to open, and when they did he smiled without pause. 

“Felicity, I love you. I have loved you for a very long time and I will continue to love you. Probably for the rest of my life if you let me. I know that is a lot to put on you. But I need you to know that if you don't want this. If you just want to go back to what we were before, or if you just want to be friends then that's okay. It will hurt. My life will be sucky for a while, but I will handle it. I won't go skiing without you. I promise. I want this, with you. I want to kiss you like this everyday, I want to be with you. But if that isn't what you want then I will be okay. I will. I just want to make sure that you are.”

He watched as she breathed, her eyes swimming with tears. She looked so conflicted and he wanted more than anything to help her. But she had to come to this decision on her own. Finally she took a deep breath, her hands coming up to cover his. 

“I don't love you, Oliver.” She said quietly, her voice wavering and he felt his pulse pick up. 

“Okay.” He responded weakly. 

“But I do like you. I mean, I care about you.” She said quickly, her words coming out stilted. “I mean, I know it doesn't sound like much. Not when what you feel is so, is so, amazing. You're amazing.” She said with a shaky smile. 

He breathed a little more calmly, the pounding in his ears growing quiet. 

“I could. I feel like I could love you. I just don't want to hurt you. I am terrified that I am going to hurt you.” She confessed, the tears finally spilling over. “I don't want you to hate me.”

“Hey, hey, hey.” He shushed quickly, letting go of her only to wrap his arms around her and pull her into a hug. “For a smart person you're pretty dense. Hating you is something I will never be good at. That and dancing. My biggest failures.” He teased, hoping to get her to laugh. It worked to a degree and he smiled. He pulled away from the hug, coaxing her deeper into the living room, towards her couch. 

“I say, lets watch some Friends, the non-Ross and Rachel seasons and I can maybe show you some more of how much I could never hate you?” He asked, settling into the cushions, opening his arms up to her invitingly. 

“Is this your way of asking me to 'Netflix and chill'? Oliver? Are you trying to get me to make out on my couch?” She asked him, her tears now forgotten as she teased him, her eyebrow cocked. 

“Netflix and chill?” He asked her, confused as she settled into his side, the remote in hand. 

“Oh, yeah that's right. You stopped being a fuck boy before the whole 'Straight White Boy' texting phenomenon. Wow, you really missed out on the Tinder craze. That kinda sucks for you.” She mused with a yawn, her head resting on his shoulder, the beginning of an episode blasting on the screen. 

He frowned, “Hey! No one ever told me what a fuck boy is!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter and this baby will be complete. Next up, the wedding.


	16. Slutty Wedding Sex

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wedding weekend has finally come. Oliver needs a date to the big event, and Felicity might just be available.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it, the end. I have never, ever finished a multi-chapter fic before and this is pretty huge for me. I started this story with little to know idea where I wanted to go with this, but with all of the feedback I received it grew into something that I'm very proud of.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy the last chapter, and your feedback now is just as important as for the first chapter. Thank you all so much for your support.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The weekend of the wedding flew by in a flurry of over scheduled meals and photo shoots by the pond behind the manor. 

Having the wedding at the Danforth Manor just outside of the city limits was Laurel and Tommy's way of having a destination wedding that wouldn't get them dirty glances for taking their business away from the locals. 

Friday night was the rehearsal, all of the wedding party were present, apart from the groom's father who was stuck in town on 'business'. Without the patriarch of the Merlyn family there to watch with a critical eye, the friends and family cut loose. The ladies were all dressed in sandals, shorts and matching bridal party shirts that Sara had ordered off of Etsy as joke, but Laurel loved. The men were dressed very similar in the groomsman shirts that Captain Lance ordered when he saw Sara's and didn't want to be left out. They all 'danced' down the aisle to bad 90's rap songs, while Tommy carried Laurel piggyback down the aisle to Bruno Mars' 'Marry You'.Oliver had never seen her laugh so hard, or look so happy. It made him even more at peace with how their lives had turned out. 

They all spent hours laughing together, exchanging wedding party gifts (bejeweled hair combs for the ladies, cufflinks for the men), more than a few bottles of wine from the Queen family wine cellar and stories of the couple. 

Oliver never left Felicity's side. And if anyone noticed the way his hand gravitated to the small of her back, or the way Felicity leaned into him when she laughed then they never spoke of it. 

Saturday morning brought the champagne breakfast, more photos and tearful speeches from Captain and Doctor Lance. Malcolm had arrived just in time for his speech, one that had clearly been written by his assistant. He didn't speak of childhood memories or emotions like Laurels parents. Instead he spoke of the powerful couple that would be merging together and the impact their lives together would have on the future of Starling City. It sounded more like a campaign announcement than a wedding toast. But he actually seemed proud of Tommy and the direction his life was now taking, so Oliver decided to not throw anything at his best friend's father. 

By the time the 'breakfast' was over, the afternoon was well underway and there wasn't much time for any non-wedding related activities. The men were due for a mid afternoon game on the golf course behind the manor, and the ladies were being treated in the spa with facials, mani-pedis and all of the usual pre-wedding pampering. 

The highlight of the day, however was in the late evening. The dinner in the main hall was just for the family, a way of starting the marriage off on the right foot, and so the wedding party at the night all to themselves.

Felicity knew that everyone else had already made plans to enjoy the free time they had been given. The manor was amazing, after all, and it had more than enough to do to occupy oneself. She had laughed when they had arrived back to their room earlier and Thea had quickly disappeared, dragging Roy with her into the pool house for some quality hot tub time. That left Felicity with a night all to herself, and while she had originally planned the downtime to catch up on work emails and maybe some reading, she couldn't help but be very aware that Oliver's room was just down the halls from hers. And as far as she knew, since all of his friends were otherwise occupied, he was all alone. 

She sat back on the bed and debated her next move for a few moments, looking between her tablet and her cell. Finally, she grabbed her phone, her lower lip between her teeth and shot off a quick text to Oliver.

**Felicity: I'm bored.**

**Oliver: If you're bored, you're boring.**

**Oliver: Isn't that the saying?**

**Felicity: I think it's a song.**

**Felicity: Also, rude.**

**Oliver: I didn't make it up. Just passing it along.**

**Felicity: What are you doing?**

**Oliver: Well, I was supposed to hang out with Digg tonight, but apparently weddings make Lyla frisky.**

**Felicity: She's pregnant.**

**Oliver: So?**

**Felicity: She's always 'frisky'.**

**Oliver: What are you doing?**

**Felicity: Realizing how old you are. Who even says frisky anymore?**

**Oliver: Enjoy your boredom.**

**Felicity: No, wait. I'm kidding.**

**Felicity: Sort of.**

**Felicity: Wanna come over?**

**Oliver: Why Ms. Smoak, are you asking me to come to your hotel room? I'm scandalized.**

**Felicity: We don't have to stay in the room.**

**Felicity: I mean we can go do something on the grounds.**

**Felicity: I mean, if you want.**

**Felicity: It's not a big deal.**

**Oliver: Felicity.**

**Felicity: I wanted to see you. I mean, if you want to see me.**

**Oliver: Give me 10 minutes.**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oliver had been wondering if she would come to him tonight. After their last night together, when he had spent hours with her on her couch, confessing his feelings for her, his lips on her skin, he had been determined to give her some space to see if this is what she wanted. This wasn't exactly what he had hoped for, but she had been very flirty with him the last few days, and she had admitted that she wanted to see him. 

And he so badly wanted to see her. So he gave in easier than he liked. But when he knocked on her door 8 ½ minutes later and she opened the door instantly, like she had been waiting there for him, and smiled at him like he wasn't the guy she had spent a lifetime rejecting, any other thoughts left him. 

“You looked really handsome at breakfast.” She said in lieu of a greeting and he felt his chest tighten as he followed her into her room.

“Yeah?” He asked stupidly, mesmerized by her as she moved about the room, her eyes fluttering back to his every few seconds. 

“Yeah. But I'm not surprised. You always look handsome.” She told him with a laugh. 

He smiled, becoming bashful all of a sudden. Women had been calling him handsome since he was 12, he knew women found him attractive. But Felicity wasn't just a woman, and hearing it from her made him duck his head and a burst of laughter erupt from his chest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had spent hours on her couch the night that he had come to her. The white noise from the TV keeping them company as they huddled together, exchanging soft words and even softer kisses. Being affectionate with Oliver had come so easily to her, that she was amazed. She had slowly been learning that he was a sap, but having him wrapped around her as the sunlight filled her living room, his lips running along her jawline, his hands in her hair, it was unlike anything she had ever experienced. 

When she had finally started to nod off, just as her alarm clock started to sound upstairs, he had lifted her easily, carrying her up to bed and leaving her with a kiss that made her bury her head in her pillow and scream as soon as she heard the downstairs door close behind him. 

They had spoken a few times between him leaving her in bed and meeting at the manor. Short phone calls, a handle full of words via text. Felicity had even sent him a few cute puppy photos she came across on her tumblr feed. After they arrived they were constantly together during the wedding festivities, but they hadn't really had any time alone, and now that they finally were once again, Felicity felt a bit lightheaded. She moved around the room, to on edge to settle on the bed or in the sitting area. She hadn't meant to say to him what she had. But his presence in her room made her head feel fuzzy, even if he had taken care lately to not intimidate her with his size and strength. 

But she couldn't regret her slip of the tongue when he became bashful. Felicity smiled as Oliver blushed, she wasn't sure that was something men did, especially men like Oliver. But as she was coming to realize lately, there weren't really 'men like Oliver'. At least, not like the Oliver that she was getting to know. Everything she thought she knew about him. Every label she had stuck on him, it was all changing. 

Finally, after several moments passed with him shuffling around, his cheeks on fire, she decided to cut him a break. 

“So, wanna go for a walk? You seem like you could use some air. You look a little overheated.” She teased. He looked up at her in surprise, but then nodded quickly. 

“Yeah, uh, that sounds good.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They spent hours walking the grounds of the manor, finally settling on the dock by the pond. The slight breeze coming off the water was chilly and Oliver had long since given up his jacket to the cause. Felicity had packed very light for the weekend and only had a spare tank top that she usually slept in. She was just happy that this one hadn't seen the inside of the washer as much as the last night shirt Oliver had seen her in. 

They had been sitting in the quiet for some time when Oliver broke the silence.

“Is Donna coming to the ceremony tomorrow?” He asked softly, but the night was quiet enough that she had no trouble hearing him. She nodded as she answered “Yeah, she loves weddings. And as she has so often reminded me in the months since the engagement 'she's not gonna be attending any other nuptials anytime soon'” She finished, mimicking her mother. 

Oliver laughed, picturing Donna's face. “You know she just wants you to be happy.” He said, nudging her shoulder with his own. 

“Yeah, I know. She worries all the time that her bad luck with men has scared me off of marriage all together.” She told him, pulling the jacket tighter around her shoulders. 

“Did it?” He questioned, keeping his voice neutral. 

Smooth. Felicity thought as she shook her head. “No. I know that my Mother's mistakes are her own. I have just spent so long getting to this point in my life where I actually have time for someone else. I've never really cared about relationships before, I was always looking at the bigger picture.” She answered honestly. 

“So, what, now you're looking for marriage?” He asked her and she had to give him credit, he didn't sound nearly as terrified as she would expect. 

“No, not really. But a year ago I would never have had the time to date, or spend a night on the couch just vegging out with someone. It wouldn't have been fair, and it would have just complicated my life and theirs. Now I have time for another person, I have time to be there for them.” She explained, smiling at his expressionless face. He looked away from her, cleared his throat and nodded. “Good to know.” He responded flatly.

“Yeah? Why, you know someone interested?” She asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“Nah.” He answer with a straight face. Leaning back on his arms, looking up at the sky.

“Oh, yeah?” She asked, the second eyebrow joining the first. 

“Yeah, I just figured Donna would be relieved to hear it on our next lunch date.” He responded with a shrug. 

“Ah, yeah. I forgot that my Mom is your bestie.” She returned with her own shrug, biting her lip when she realized it didn't look as cool as his because she was swaddled in a jacket. 

“Yeah, what can I say? The Smoak women have a weakness for me.”

She really didn't mean to laugh so hard. Honestly. He didn't need to look so offended.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was nearly midnight by the time Oliver walked her back to her room. Not that it was that big of a feat, his room was only three doors down from hers. But he was a gentleman, and he wanted to make sure she got back safely. 

He also wanted to take advantage of any opportunity to snag a goodnight kiss. But that was beside the point. 

“Well, thanks for tonight. But I should get some sleep. Laurel has avoided the Bridezilla streak so far, but if I show up in the morning with bags that may change.” Felicity said as she came to stand outside her room, slipping his jacket off. 

“Um, yeah. I'm supposed to meet Tommy early and help him get dressed. Which I personally think is going a little above and beyond the call of a Best Man, but who am I to question the Groom?” He joked, his hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. 

Her hand went to the door knob and he moved quick, putting his hand over hers. 

“Hey, um, do you have a date to this thing?” He asked quickly. She paused and looked confused. 

“To the wedding? The one that happens in 12 hours? That thing?”She questioned, her confusion growing. 

“Yeah. Asking for a friend.” He planned on letting go of her hand at some point, he really did, but then her confusion turned into a smile and she started to blush and then he couldn't make his hand move. Well, that's a lie. It moved, but not in the way he planned. 

He held his breath as her fingers curled into his, tightening the grip he had on her. She stepped closer, which didn't seem possible, her eyes flashing as she lifted herself up on the tips of her sandal clad toes and placed a chaste kiss on the corner of his mouth. 

As she backed away she smiled even bigger “Tell your 'friend' that I'm date free, but I wouldn't mind a dance partner. If he's up for it, that is.” 

He coughed, squeezing her hand one more time before he backed away, heading towards his room. “I'll pass it along to the interested party. Have a good night, Ms. Smoak.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Felicity was a pretty determined person. 

She had been determined to graduate at the top of her class at MIT in a male dominated field. 

She did it.

She had been determined to start her own business and make every person that had ever given her short skirts and blonde ponytail the side eye, eat their words.

She did that too. 

So when she decided that she would wear those incredible four inch heels with her bridesmaid dress despite her recently sprained ankle, her scar tissue didn't stand a chance. And if she wobbled a little as she walked down the stairs, Oliver was smart enough to ignore it. 

Instead he just smiled big, his eyes shining up at her from the bottom of the stairs as she made her way down to him. Her breath caught in her throat as she stopped at the mid way point, to just take him in. 

She had seen him in a tux before, of course. In fact, she had even seen him in this tux, it was one that he frequently wore to functions for QC. But for some reason it was effecting her in a new way right now. Maybe it was because this Oliver wasn't the same Oliver she had seen in that tux before. Maybe it was because this was the first time that she was going to be the one of his arm. 

When he had left her last night, she had expected to see him at the ceremony, and maybe to have him ask for a dance at some point. But this morning, while her and the others in the bridal party were getting ready, he had sent in a single red rose by hotel messenger, asking her to accompany him to the ceremony. 

It was mostly symbolic of course, they both had their own roles to play in the wedding, and they would be walking down the aisle with other people. But for some reason, walking down the stairs to him, and walking into the ballroom where the event would take place felt very important. 

As they took their places among the others in the wedding party, and prepared to march down the aisle, Oliver left her side to pair up with Sara, the maid of honor, but as the music started he turned to send a wink her way. 

She was a grown ass woman, a business owner and respected member of her community, but she wasn't too proud to admit that she giggled. Just a little bit. She also jumped slightly when Thea whispered “We are so talking about that.” in her ear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The wedding was beautiful, and Oliver wasn't ashamed to admit that he had cried more than a few times during the nuptials. But they were manly tears, and only because he could see Tommy, Thea and Felicity all crying and he was somewhat of a sympathetic crier. 

Actually, Sara was the only one besides Roy who didn't shed a few tears and that was because they kept making funny faces at each other. 

Once the ceremony was over, everyone made their way to the dining hall for the reception. He was pleased to see that despite Tommy's warnings, he had a seat right beside Felicity at the main table. But shortly after they all sat down the eat, he spotted Laurel shooting the two of them pleased glances, and he figured that she was more likely the orchestrator of that little treat. 

All of his friends were little sneaks and he loved them almost as much as he wanted to strangle them. 

Hours passed, speeches were made and lots of awkward wedding dances were had. And Oliver had ingested just enough of the champagne that was being passed around to remember that Felicity has mentioned something about a dance. He was all for it. 

Turning to his right, he used the arm that had been wrapped around the back of her chair since his third glass to move to her shoulders. He ran his hand up her arm, that was blessedly bare in her strapless dress and leaned in the whisper in her ear. “How about that dance now?"

She seemed startled, and whether that was because he had interrupted her conversation with Lyla, or because this was as affectionate as he had been in public, he didn't know. But either way she turned to look at him over her shoulder and nodded slightly. He slid his hand down her arm to grasp her hand, pulling her from her chair and onto the floor. It was late in the evening by this point, and most of the guests had left, only the closest of family and friends remained, the dance floor was only occupied by a handful of couples. 

Oliver lead them to the center, and despite the tone and beat of the music, he pulled her close to him and began to sway with her. She came with him willingly each step of the way, laying her head on his chest as he curled her hand into his shoulder and they stayed there, moving to their own music, oblivious to those around them. 

The first song faded into another and another and before long, they were the only couple on the floor. They never stopped swaying together. Finally Felicity pulled her head from his chest, her eyes tired. “You really are bad at this dancing thing. Good thing you're so good at other things.” She said, a slow smile emerging on her face.

He smirked down at her. “Oh yeah? And what is that?” He never got an official answer, instead she slid her hand from his, moving it up his chest and behind his head to pull him down her level. When her lips brushed against his for the first time, the first kiss that she had initiated he smiled into it, no longer swaying with her. They stood together on the dance floor, his body curled around hers, her teeth wreaking havoc on the nerves in his bottom lip. 

When they pulled apart Oliver was smiling so big his cheeks hurt from the intensity of it. He cupped her cheek in his hand, brushing a fallen eyelash away with his thumb and chuckled at the dazed look on her face. 

“You do realize that about a dozen of our closest family and friends have been watching you have your way with me for the last ten minutes?” He questioned her softly, not wanting her to think he was upset about this development. 

Surprisingly she smirked at him. “Hey, we said we'd wait until after the wedding to tell people. If my calculations are correct, the wedding ended when the caterers started packing up half an hour ago.” 

“Good call.” He muttered before capturing her lips again. 

It took Thea tapping on his shoulder and telling him the bride and groom wanted to leave for them to break apart a second time. 

“Jeez, you guys, they're the ones that got married. They should be the ones having slutty wedding sex. Or at least, the first ones to have slutty wedding sex. Have some respect.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Doesn't quite feel like an ending? Yeah I agree. There was just no way to end this story that I felt happy with. So, with that said I have decided to turn this into a series. Want to see how Oliver and Felicity met? Want to see the first time Felicity tells Oliver she loves him? Want them to get married?Want to see all the years in between? Well, cool because I really want to write those stories as well. 
> 
> So in the response to this chapter let me know what scenes from their life, before and after this story you would like to see.

**Author's Note:**

> The future of this fic relies totally on whether there is an interest. I am interested in exploring this further, especially since I could never see any world in which Oliver Queen is only a fuckboy. There is so much more of this, I just don't know if there is a 'market' for it.


End file.
